


Fluffy Pups

by Amalthea_Luchia_Aizen, Daisy78173, Roosterteethlover



Series: Fluffy moments [21]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Arguments, Fights, Fluff, Foxkit Oscar, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, LITERALLY, Magic, Mamatiger incoming, Oscar is a puppy, Oscar is a sad boi, Oz is a sad boi, Ozpin is heckin pissed, Ozpin is showing his farm son some magic, Papawolf Ozpin, Playing, Puppies, Suicidal Thoughts, Tickling, Tigermama Salem, adorable stuff, and very fluffy, cute stuff, it gets better though, it's very cute, we do not vibe with canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 67,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24202093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amalthea_Luchia_Aizen/pseuds/Amalthea_Luchia_Aizen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daisy78173/pseuds/Daisy78173, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roosterteethlover/pseuds/Roosterteethlover
Summary: Ozpin is showing Oscar some magic, what new developments will come with this?
Relationships: Ozpin & Oscar Pine
Series: Fluffy moments [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564159
Comments: 131
Kudos: 92





	1. Magic Training

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Amalthea_Luchia_Aizen requested this and helped me write it! She's really nice and I had a blast writing with her!

It had started as a normal day of sparing, Ruby and Oscar had just finished their hand to hand when Oscar had asked Ozpin about his magic. The young boy wanted to know if he could do magic himself, when Ozpin had confirmed it, he wanted to try a few spells. And thus, here they were, everyone standing by the wall and Ozpin in control to show Oscar how to do it. 

“We’ll be starting with the two most basic spells. Animal transformation and Copying.” Ozpin explained, “One is exactly what it sounds like, the other gives you the ability to make a magic copy of yourself. Think of it as a sort of golem or puppet that you can control.”

“Why are all of you still here?” Qrow asked the teens beside him as they watched Ozpin talk to Oscar.

“Because when else are we gonna get to see real magic?” Nora grinned, happily bouncing in her place next to Ren.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe, anytime I turn into a bird.” he retorted with a snort.

“Shhh!” Ruby shushed. “I think they're gonna do it!”

“Now,” Ozpin said cheerily, “I will demonstrate how to do it first, then I would like you to attempt it. Alright?”

*Alright.* Oscar said eagerly. 

“Then let’s begin.” Ozpin chuckled. 

Ozpin let out a breath and gathered his magic, going slowly so Oscar could get a good idea of just what he was supposed to do. And suddenly in the blink of an eye, where Ozpin once stood, there was now a silver dire wolf pup. 

“What the...?” Ozpin barked in confusion. 

“OH MY GOSH! PUPPY!” was all he heard before Ruby was right in front of him. “You’re so cute! Look how little you are, oh my goodness!” 

Startled,Ozpin involuntarily whined and took a step back, his tail tucking reflexively between his back legs. She was just so much bigger than him now and she had showed up so suddenly. Curse his animal instincts.

“Ruby!” Qrow called, suddenly pulling the girl away from him. “Relax and go back to the wall.”

“Ok…” she mumbled, shooting Ozpin an apologetic look.

*So... puppy?* Oscar asked curiously.

“It would appear so. Usually when I shift to this form I’m a fully grown dire wolf. Perhaps that has changed since your body is so much younger than my previous one.” Ozpin mused, flopping onto his belly and laying his head on his paws.

“Hey Oz. Everything alright? One bark for yes, two barks for no.” Qrow said, kneeling in front of the newly fluffified Ozpin. 

“Yes.” Ozpin barked lightly, his tail thumping the ground slightly. 

“That’s good, Oz. I’m gonna hold the kids back while you talk to Oscar.” Qrow chuckled. “I have a feeling Nora will start dressing you up in cute little outfits if I don’t hold her back.” 

Ozpin whined at the thought, crossing his paws over his small muzzle. He heard Qrow chuckle and walk away, though not before rubbing the top of Ozpin's fluffy head. The silver wolf pup then sat up, shaking out his fur and yawning, it had been sometime since he had last done this. It was a few months before the start of the last school year if he remembered correctly. He had been dreadfully bored in his office so he decided to shift into his animal form and go play in the forest. That had been such a fun day...

*Oscar?* he asked in his mind, *How are you feeling?*

*This is kinda weird.* Oscar replied. 

*I remember it being rather strange the first time I transformed too. So don’t worry about it too much.* Ozpin replied. *Now, were you paying attention? Because I would like you to try this next. And be forewarned, your default animal form will most likely be very different from mine. So don’t be too worried about that.*

*Right. I think I can do it, just promise you’ll be there if I need some help.* Oscar said, a bit of anxiety slipping through his voice.

Ozpin felt his tail thump on the ground, *Always Oscar. Now, I’m going to shift us back and give you back control. Ready?*

*Ready.* 

Soon Oscar was standing in human form before the others, “Um, I’m gonna try the spell now so… you might wanna stand back. I don’t know what might happen if I get it wrong.”

“You can do it Oscar! We believe in you!” Nora cried, giving Oscar a double thumbs up.

*You’ll do just fine Oscar. I’ll be right here if you need me, alright?* Ozpin encouraged gently.

*Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be alright.* Oscar thought back, a small smile on his face.

Oscar took a deep breath, focused on the magic within him, and carefully copied what Ozpin had done before, the old wizard guiding him all the way. Soon, faster than Oscar could blink he was suddenly much smaller and warmer. Looking down he saw two little brown paws in place of his hands, he yelped despite knowing this would happen. His yelp came out as a high pitched bark, startling him further. Stepping back he accidentally stepped on something fluffy that hurt, making him yelp again. He then turned around and saw 3 fluffy brown fox tails behind him.

*Oz?* he thought desperately, *Ozpin?*

*It’s alright Oscar! This is normal! Animal forms can be anything, from the tiniest little bug to the largest and mightiest dragon. It would appear you're a type of fox. But you’re alright, just relax and get used to your new form.* Ozpin gently soothed. 

Oscar sat down, shaking and feeling like he was gonna cry. This was just so weird, he was so small, this really didn’t feel right to him. 

“Kid? You ok?” Qrow asked, crouching down and reaching towards Oscar. 

Oscar flinched back before relaxing a bit, this was just Qrow. Qrow wouldn’t hurt him, Qrow would never hurt him. He leaned towards him with a pitiful whine, placing a paw on Qrows knee.

“Aww, you’re breaking my heart kid. Come here.” Qrow gently lifted Oscar into his arms, petting down his back and scratching his furry head. 

Oscar let out a sigh putting his paws over Qrow’s shoulder and nuzzling into Qrows neck. This felt safe, he felt safe. Qrow wouldn’t let anything happen to him, no matter what form he took.

“There you go kiddo.” Qrow soothed, running his fingers deftly through Oscars fur. “Yeah, it’s alright. You’re alright.”

*Better?* Ozpin asked, his voice soft and genuine.

*Yeah, better.* Oscar replied, snuggling a bit more into Qrow. 

Ozpin hummed, *Good, now I think you should spend some time in this form. Get used to it and all.* 

*Do I have to?* Oscar asked, whining a bit.

*No, but there’s a great deal of fun you can have in this form.* Ozpin chuckled, *I can remember the pranks I played on students back in my days at Beacon.* 

Oscar was quiet for a moment before, *Alright. I’ll try to stay like this for a bit, but the second I wanna change back we do it ok?*

*Of course Oscar, just say the word.* Ozpin agreed, sounding excited. 

*Why do I feel like you're going to enjoy this more than I am?* Oscar chuckled, though it came out as more of a snuffle in his fox form. His tails began wagging and he wiggled a bit in Qrows grip.

“You wanna get down? Alright.” Qrow laughed, placing Oscar back on the ground. Oscar tried to stand up, but quickly lost his balance.

*You’re currently a fox Oscar, you can’t stand on your back legs.* Ozpin chuckled.

*Yeah, yeah laugh it up old man.* Oscar huffed, standing again this time on all fours. He took a tentative step forward, then another, and another, and he fell. He let out a whine and Qrow set him back on his feet.

“You can do it kiddo. It takes practice.” Qrow encouraged, a patient smile on his face.

Oscar’s tails began wagging once more and he stood, he envisioned the way canines usually walked, and began the slow process of mimicking it. It took a few tries and he tripped up a few more times but Qrow helped him up, and he got the hang of it soon enough. He soon trotted in a small circle around Qrow, his tails wagging happily.

“I got it!” he barked, jumping up in joy, though he didn’t quite stick the landing. 

Qrow chuckled and picked him up again before putting him down, “You’re definitely picking this up faster than I did. It took forever before I was able to walk around and the like.” 

Oscar wiggled happily and trotted up to Qrow, placing his front paws on the older man's foot. “Come down!” he barked, tails wagging furiously.

“What is it, pipsqueak?” Qrow asked, kneeling down and placing Oscar on his lap.

Oscar placed his front paws on Qrows chest and gave his chin a lick, “Thank you.” he woofed. 

Qrow laughed and rubbed the top of Oscar's head, “Yeah yeah. Your welcome.”

Oscar hopped a bit on Qrows lap, licking his face more. He was just so happy all of a sudden, he needed Qrow to join him in his happy state.

“Kid! Ack! No!” Qrow laughed lifting his arms to escape Oscar’s sudden playful assault. 

*Oscar.* Ozpin's voice spoke, breaking Oscar’s concentration. *You need to keep a hold of yourself. I know it’s difficult to keep your animal instincts at bay, but do try please.*

Oscar backed off with an apologetic whine, his tails tucking themselves between his legs. 

Qrow wiped his face and smirked at the kid, “You’re fine. Now you wanna say hey to the others? I think Nora will literally explode if she doesn’t get to pet you.”

“Yeah!” Oscar barked, jumping a bit in place.

“Ok.” he smiled before turning to the others, “Kids come on over! But be careful, you don’t wanna freak him out.” Qrow called to the waiting teens.

Ruby was the first over, kneeling in front of Oscar and bouncing in place. “You look so cute and fluffy oh my goodness!” 

Oscar gave a puppy smile while wagging his tails, he really wanted to play all of a sudden. And Ruby was always really fun! He should play with her!

“Come on!” he barked, jumping to all fours again and running a small circle. “Let’s play!” he bowed, tails wagging furiously in the air.

Ruby giggled, “You wanna play? Is that what you want?” 

“Yes!” he jumped again, landing in a bow.

“Ok!” she grinned, reaching her hand out to him. Was this the game? Was he supposed to get her hand? Well get her hand he would!

Oscar leapt forward, batting at the hand with his paws and growling. He was gonna get that hand or his name wasn’t Oscar Pine! 

*Be gentle Oscar.* Ozpin's voice chuckled in his head, *You have much sharper teeth now.*

“Right!” he barked, batting again at Ruby’s hand.

Nora’s hand pushing him over came as a surprise. She was gentle in her push, but it was enough to knock him to his side. He barked in surprise and rolled onto his belly, sneezing and shaking his head.

Nora squealed, “You’re so tiny! Oh look at you!” she lifted Oscar into the air above, grinning a thousand watt smile.

“It’s not my fault!” he protested, wiggling in Nora’s grip.

“Aww, cutie!” she cooed, placing him on his back and rubbing his belly.

*Oh no.* Ozpin thought, *Belly rubs. A canine's greatest weakness.* 

Oscar paid him no mind as he let his head flop back in relaxation. This was amazing, no wonder actual dogs liked this so much. Belly rubs felt fantastic! Everyone should get a belly rub at some point!

“He likes it!” he heard Jaune coo from somewhere nearby. But he was too caught up in his bliss to really pay attention. Especially since Nora had just found a really good spot by his side that had his leg shaking.

*Oscar, what did I say about keeping a hold of yourself? I know it’s difficult, especially right now. But you must resist!* Ozpin called out, finally snapping Oscar out of his daze.

He wiggled out from Nora’s grip and zipped over to hide behind Qrow in shame. He was so embarrassed, he had just let Nora rub his belly, and he tried to fight Ruby’s hand! He was never gonna live this down! He laid on his belly and crossed his paws over his face with a whine.

“You let the animal part take over didn’t you?” Qrow smirked, picking Oscar up and cuddling him to his chest.

Oscar whined and nodded, nosing at Qrows chin.

Qrow laughed softly and scratched behind Oscar's ear, “Yeah, it takes awhile to get under control. I still find myself drawn to shiny things and making nests sometimes! Nothing to be ashamed about. I mean, you should have seen some of the stuff Ozpin did!”

Oscar tilted his head curiously, “What did he do?” His tails were wagging again.

“What did Professor Ozpin do?” Ren asked from next to Qrow, the back of his knuckle coming up to rub Oscar’s chin.

“Well a few things really, I caught him playing in puddles, sun bathing, begging for belly rubs from students, taking naps in the courtyard. But my personal favorite is when some student was blowing bubbles in the courtyard and he was chasing and biting at them.” Qrow laughed at the memories, his hand moving to pet Oscar’s back.

*Really?* he thought in amusement at his mental companion.

*Oh hush! Bubbles are always fun!* Ozpin pouted. *And you now know the power belly rubs hold! Don’t judge me!*

“How did that even work?” Jaune asked, “I mean, he was a giant wolf! Wouldn’t people question that?” 

“Well he wasn’t always in the form of a dire wolf. But it was mostly explained as being a docile dog that wandered the campus from time to time. It freaked some people out a first but Oz just did a few tricks and it won everyone over.” Qrow explained.

“What kind of tricks?” Ruby was next to ask, taking Oscar from Qrows grip and holding him in the crook of her arm like a baby. Oscar would have protested, but her free hand was scratching his belly and Oscar just couldn’t bring himself to move honestly.

Qrow paused, seemingly thinking, “Fetch, roll over, play dead, sit, stay. The basics. He also knew sit pretty and dance. I think I have a video of that somewhere.” 

Nora giggled into her hand, “I would pay good money to see that!”

“You and me both!” Ruby agreed, booping Oscar’s nose. Oscar whined and took her hand in his paws, guiding them back to his belly for further scratching. Ruby giggled and resumed her previous scritches, making Oscar’s tails wag happily. 

*You really did all that stuff?* Oscar asked idley, his mind a bit hazy with relaxation.

*It put people at ease to think I was a trained animal rather than a wild one. Plus, they sometimes gave me treats.* Ozpin chuckled fondly.

*Nice.* Oscar thought, closing his eyes in bliss.

“Yeah, Oz was pretty adorable in his animal forms. Though he could get pretty… playful too.” Qrow chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Playful?” Nora asked eagerly. 

“Well, like I said before he’d do tricks, and play in puddles. But sometimes he’d literally pounce on me and slobber all over my face, or he’d turn into a cat and sneak attack people, and more than once he turned into a field mouse and tickled the crap out of me.” Qrow explained, smiling fondly at the memories.

Jaune chuckled, “I didn’t know you were ticklish.”

“Try it and die Arc.” the dark haired man growled, shooting Jaune a deadly glare.

Ruby giggled and put Oscar on the ground, “Get ready uncle Qrow.”

“Don’t you even dare!” Qrow growled, stepping back.

Oscar yawned and trotted over to the wall to watch the fun. *You think we should do something?*

*Nope, Qrow needs to laugh more anyway.* Ozpin replied flippantly.

*Agreed* Oscar replied, laying down with his head in his paws.

“Get back you feral beasts!” Qrow yelped, walking backwards away from the approaching teens.

Ruby chuckled darkly before petal blasting behind Qrow and putting him in a full nelson. “Get him guys! His belly and underarms are his worst spots!”

“W-wait, NOOO!” Qrow shouted before 6 hands were attacking him without mercy.

*Fatality.* Ozpin thought with a laugh.

Oscar smiled, *I think you mean tickletality.*

The joined souls laughed together as they watched the show. *Wow, they are really killing him.* Oscar thought with a chuckle.

*Yup. What a shame that is.* Ozpin replied. 

Oscar yawned, *I kinda want to try that other spell. Copy, right?*

*Yes, would you like to try it in human form? It would probably be easier that way.* Ozpin answered.

Oscar rolled back onto his stomach and stood, shaking himself off and stretching. He took a deep breath and with Ozpin's guidance, transformed back into his human form. 

“Ok, I’m ready. What do I need to do?” Oscar said excitedly.

*Just like before, I do it first then you do it.* Ozpin chirped.

“Right.” Oscar let out a breath and gave control back to Ozpin. 

Ozpin looked over to the others who were still busy destroying Qrow, he chuckled, “If you could all please stop killing Qrow? I need to concentrate and his laughing makes that rather difficult.”

Ruby shot up first with a thumbs up, “Okie-dokie! Come on everyone!” 

The kids all pulled away from Qrow and switched places with Ozpin, leaving a still giggling Qrow curled up on the ground. “Are you ok?” Ozpin asked, crouching next to Qrow with a chuckle.

“I-I just need a minute.” he panted, sitting up and shooting a glare at the kids. “I’m going to get you all back. Just you wait, I will have my revenge.”

“Good luck!” Nora cried, her fists on her hips, “I’m not ticklish!”

“That’s a lie. You’re ticklish right here.” Ren said calmly, poking Nora’s ribs.

Nora giggled and shot him a glare, “Traitor!”

“Students, can this wait? Like I said, I need to concentrate.” Ozpin called in amusement, ending their conversation.

“Yes sir!” they all chirped back grinning.

Ozpin shook his head with a chuckle and took a breath, “Alright. Let’s begin.” Gathering his magic he slowly pushed it out and into shape, he kept it going until he had a solid form and with a snap the copy was made. 

“Oh you have got to be kidding me.” he heard Qrow grumble when the copy took form.

“Is-is that Qrow?” Jaune asked incredulously, “In a skirt?”

“Why yes it is Mr Arc.” Ozpin grinned, looking directly at a grumbling and probably cussing Qrow. “Yes it is.”

Ruby began quietly giggling before she looked at her uncle and burst out in loud laughter. “I remember dad telling us about that! Oh my gosh!”

Ozpin snorted into his hand. “Qrow, are you ready to practice your landing strategy?” he said before joining Ruby in laughing at Qrow’s misery.

“I’m going inside. Screw this.” Qrow grumbled, storming back into the house.

Ozpin wiped a few stray tears of laughter from his eyes and pulled the magic back into him, shattering the copy. “Alright, I’ve had my fun. Oscar do you think you can do that?”

*Embarrass Qrow? Definitely!* Oscar giggled.

“You know what I mean young man.” Ozpin playfully chided, “Do you think you can make a copy?”

*Yes!* came the eager answer.

“Alright.” Ozpin gave control back to Oscar and they quickly set about repeating the process of gathering magic and pushing it out into form. Slowly the form of a little black and white dog came into form. Soon, with a snap, the dog was solidified and before them stood a little corgi, holding a red rose in its teeth.

“Zwei?” Ruby said softly, shock written across her face.

“I thought you might like to see something familiar.” Oscar sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ozpin hummed a bit in his head, *How sweet of you.*

“Do um, do you like it?” he asked, ignoring Ozpin.

Ruby nodded, tears welling up in her eyes, “I do. I don’t think I realized how much I missed him till now.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you upset!” Oscar cried, taking a step towards Ruby.

Ruby sniffled and quickly shook her head, “No no! It’s not sad crying! I’m really happy to see him again! Thank you Oscar.”

Oscar blushed and looked away, “I’m glad you like it.”

Ruby smiled at him and brushed away her tears, “I love it. Heh, the rose was a nice touch by the way.”

Oscar chuckled, “Thanks, I uh, I’m gonna take it down now. I’m not sure how long I can keep it up for, honestly.”

“Yeah! No problem!” Ruby gave a thumbs up with a smile.

Oscar pulled back the magic holding the copy together and the construct shattered. *All and all you did very well Oscar! It took quite a bit longer for me to get those spells down.* Ozpin congratulated the teen, the smile clear in his voice.

“Thanks Oz. I’m pretty excited to learn more!” Oscar grinned, clasping his hands together.

“Alright! If that’s all then I’m gonna go inside. I’m hungry!” Nora called from over her shoulder as she walked inside.

“Me too!” Jaune and Ruby responded, quickly trotting after their friend.

“Ready to head in Oscar?” Ren asked.

“Yeah, I’m starving!” Oscar grinned.

Ozpin chuckled, *Yes, I’m sure after all that showing off for Miss Rose, you would be.*

Oscar tripped up, prompting Ren to shoot him a concerned glance, but Oscar smiled and gave a thumbs up to show he was fine. *Shut it Ozpin.* he fumed, his previous blush returning full force. Ozpin laughed and they followed Ren into the house for some much deserved food.


	2. Haven Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some new developments made during the battle at Haven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're ready to die of cute overdose!

Things had gone quickly after that day, there was more training, both in combat and magic, Yang and Weiss arrived, and the meeting with Leo had gone… less than stellar. Hence their current predicament, everyone was off fighting Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, leaving Hazel and Leo to Oscar. Then Qrow took on Leo and it was just Oscar vs Hazel.

Oscar had just found out why Hazel hated him and Oz so much, it was truly a sad story and Oscar did feel for the guy. But to blame Ozpin for his own sisters choices was idiotic, kind of understandable, but still idiotic. 

“-and so do I.” he said, pulling on his Ozpin's magic. He would need it for the rest of this fight.

*Oscar, you need to let me take control please!* Ozpin pleaded, his voice shaken and desperate.

“No!” he refused, jumping away from another attack from Hazel.

*I CAN’T SIT BY AND WATCH YOU GET KILLED! PLEASE!* Ozpin shouted, and Oscar felt tears press behind his eyes.

“I can do this!” he snapped, drawing more magic, he wasn’t sure what he was even drawing it for, but he knew he needed it.

“OSCAR!” the pressure behind his eyes grew and Oscar almost felt bad.

“NO!” and with that shout he pushed the magic out, the two spells he knew coming out at the same time, along with a powerful yank from his chest. 

Oscar fell to his knees, the force of the spells taking all of his energy out of him. He clutched Long Memory to keep upright and looked ahead of him, his eyes widening at the sight before him. Stand protectively in front of him, its hackles raised and a deep angry growl coming from its throat, was an enormous silver dire wolf. One he knew.

“Oz?” he asked, shock and amazement written across his face.

*It’s me Oscar.* Ozpin's voice rang in his head, but the wolf turned its head to look at him, *This has never happened to me before, in all of my lives. But we can think more about this later. Right now, I have a monster to tear to shreds.* 

“What the..? What is this?” Hazel asked, confusion dampening the anger in his eyes.

Ozpin growled louder and threw himself at Hazel, tearing and biting at every inch of the man he could. Hazel shouted and began hitting and pulling at the crazed wolf on his person, trying in vain to get the rabid creature off him. 

Oscar allowed himself a moment to catch his breath, it really was terrifying watching Ozpin act so… feral. When he spoke to Oscar, or took control of Oscar’s body he was always so prim and proper, the definition of formal. But this... this was something entirely different, right now he was primal and fierce, and Oscar could feel the rage and sheer need to protect pouring from Ozpin. It was with a heart warming start that he realized that Ozpin was protecting him.

“What the hell is going on?” Qrow asked, showing up next to him and blocking a shot from Leo’s (really impractical all things considered) weapon. 

“I don’t know how, but right now me and Ozpin are separated. That wolf over there, is Ozpin. We’re still connected, just… apart.” Oscar explained lamely, not really sure how it all worked himself.

“Ya know what.This whole day is already so Brothers forsaken weird, this may as well happen.” Qrow sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“You’re telling me.” Oscar deadpanned, rolling his eyes. Another shot from Leo rang out, this one hitting Oscar’s shoulder, making him cry out in pain. He felt a surge of rage from Ozpin as he let go of Hazel’s head and charged at Leo. 

“Wait!” he cried rushing between Leo and Ozpin, “He’s a coward but he doesn’t deserve to be mauled to death!” Oscar closed his eyes tight, bracing for impact from the eneraged Ozpin. When none came and he felt Ozpin’s anger ebb, he cracked open an eye to see Ozpin sitting in front of him, tail thumping on the ground and looking nothing like the mauling beast from moments ago. 

“Oz?” he asked, tentatively reaching a hand out. 

*I’m sorry you had to see that Oscar.* Ozpin apologized, butting his head against Oscar’s hand. 

“It’s ok, just try not to kill anyone alright?” Oscar requested, a small smile finding its way onto his face as he scratched behind Ozpin’s fluffy ear. “This is super weird right?”

*Oh definitely. This has never happened in any of my lives before. EVER.* Ozpin chuckled, leaning into the scritches.

“Let’s talk about it after the fight, right now, let’s go kick some butt.” Oscar grinned, a determined glint in his eyes.

*Lets.* Ozpin agreed with a doggy smile, gently nuzzling his nose against Oscar’s chest. Oscar giggled and rubbed at Ozpin’s ears, before stepping to his side and shooting a warning look at Leo.

“You stay here, or I sick him on you.” he warned as Ozpin growled, emphasizing Oscar’s statement. Leo nodded vigorously, his eyes wide with terror. Oscar gave him a final glare and turned back to the fight, “You ready Oz?” he asked, placing a hand on Ozpin’s side.

*Let's give them hell.* Ozpin replied, his hackles raising and a low growl leaving his muzzle. Oscar grinned, lifted Long Memory, and shot off into the fray with Ozpin.

The whole thing was over before it really began, Hazel was taken out by Ozpin. Emerald and Mercury didn’t stand a chance in a four on two fight that turned into a five on two fight when Blake and Ozpin joined the fray and Yang left for the vault. Then Yang came back holding the relic, and it was done, Hazel, Emerald and Mercury were arrested, Cinder was MIA, Vernal was dead and Raven had fled. They had won.

That night, as everyone slept off the battle, Oscar lay awake, Ozpin laying next to him still in wolf form. 

“How is this possible?” Oscar asked, idly petting down his furry companions back.

*I’m not sure. This has never happened to me, or rather us, before.* Ozpin replied, snuggling a bit into Oscar’s side. 

“Can you turn into a human, or are you stuck as a wolf?” he asked, turning on his side to face Ozpin.

*I tried while you were in the shower, I can’t become human. But I can turn into other animal forms, so that’s something.* Ozpin replied. *You should sleep Oscar. You’ve had a long day, and there is always tomorrow to figure all this out.*

“Yeah, ok. Sleep sweet Oz.” he relented, cuddling up to the silver wolf at his side.

*Sweet dreams Oscar* Ozpin replied, giving Oscar a small lick on his face and shut his eyes.

Ozpin opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar white expanse. Looking down he found himself in his old human body, and he sighed. 

“What do you want?” he asked, turning around to face the god of light.

“Your curse has been partly broken. I wanted to see just what happened.” the being spoke, their voice coming from nowhere and everywhere. 

“Partly broken? What does that mean?” he asked, shock written across his face.

“It would appear your current host has managed to give you a physical form, thus partly breaking your curse.” they explained calmly.

“How? How is it possible?” Ozpin glared, his anger at the god building.

“It shouldn’t be. But it is. This host’s ability seems to be spell mixing, and in mixing those spells he did the impossible.” the god of light sounded just as confused about it as Ozpin was.

Ozpin sighed, “So you’ve come to tell me that you have no idea why or how this happened?”

“I… suppose so.” they faltered, their featureless face turning away, almost sheepishly.

“Lovely. As always, you are unendingly helpful.” Ozpin deadpanned, glaring at the being before him.

“I am simply trying to clarify your… unique situation.” they defended.

Ozpin glared further, “Well you’ve been doing a bang up job thus far.”

“You should be grateful to even be in my presence mortal.” they spoke, their voice growing angry.

“You should be grateful to be in my presence mortal.” he mocked, “Do you hear yourself? You sound like a petulant child, you’re a god for goodness sake! Have some dignity.” 

“You-” they began.

Ozpin scoffed “Oh shut it you faceless wonder, I don’t want to hear it. You’re a horrible god, I would know, I was one!”

“I am the god of light! I am light and order, I am prosperity and kindness incarnate, I am-what are you doing?” they fumed.

Ozpin was opening and closing his hand mockingly, “Blah blah blah, I’m the god of light, I’m so great, look at me! You do realize light doesn’t equate to “good” just as darkness doesn’t equate to “evil” the world is not black and white! It is a rainbow of millions of colors! Though I’m not surprised you can’t see that, considering you don’t have eyes.” 

“You would dare-” they began before Ozpin cut him off again.

“Do you know what you get when you mix black and white?” he asked, crossing his arms and glaring harder at the being.

“You-you-” they stuttered.

“You get grey.” another voice spoke from behind the god of light.

“Brother! When did you-” they sputtered, before the new god cut them off.

“I’ve been listening for some time. I must admit, this conversation has been supremely entertaining.” the god of darkness said, a small chuckle in his voice. “Seeing a mortal explain how reality works to my stick in the mud brother is not something I ever thought I would see.”

“You approve of such behavior from those lesser than us brother?” they asked, clearly aghast.

“If it means you will, as the mortals say, pull your head out of your ass. Then yes, I do approve.” the darker brother said, and Oz was sure if they had a mouth they would be smiling. 

The light god scoffed but turned away, seeming to drop the argument.

“Apologies for my brother. He’s used to groveling and praying, not arguing.” the dark god said, shrinking himself down to Ozpin’s size.

“Don’t think I particularly like you either.” Ozpin shot back.

“I would expect no less.” they chuckled. “I wish we could better explain this magic phenomena, but we are as much in the dark as you.”

Ozpin scoffed, a small smile working its way onto his face, “Was that pun intentional?”

“The possibilities are endless, my child.” they chuckled. “You will be waking soon, I suggest you enjoy your new found freedom. You may not be human, but animal forms I have found are more fun anyway.”

“Noted.” Ozpin said, nodding to the two gods. “Farewell. I would say it’s been a pleasure, but I promised Miss.Xiao-Long no more lies.”

“Farewell Ozpin. Good luck to you.” the dark god laughed, the sound fading away as Ozpin woke up next to Oscar.

The morning proved to be a slow one, everyone was still bone tired from the previous day's fight. But as the day wore on their energy grew, something Ozpin always admired about the youth. They had such an ability to bounce back from everything and anything. He personally opted to stay by Oscar’s side, chatting with him and explaining his dream the previous night. Paraphrasing his more… sassy comments, and letting Oscar know everything the gods had told him about their current “predicament.”

*Let’s tell the others at dinner. They would most likely appreciate knowing.* Ozpin said after telling his tale to Oscar.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Oscar agreed, but Ozpin could feel there was something more.

*Is something wrong?* the former headmaster asked.

Oscar shifted on his feet a bit but answered, “Do you think I can still transform? I mean, I still have that ability right?”

*Only one way to find out.* Ozpin replied, nodding at the boy to try.

Oscar nodded back and took a deep breath, Ozpin talked him through the process and in the blink of an eye Oscar was gone and in his place was a little fox kit. Ozpin laid down to Oscar’s level and gave him a dog smile.

*Looks like you can still do it. What now?* he asked, his tail thumping on the ground.

Oscar booped his nose, his tails wagging happily, *We can have some fun! Catch me if you can!* he cheered, darting off.

Ozpin stood up and gave chase. He could easily catch the little fox kit, but the chase was too fun to give up so quickly. Soon their chase took them to the common room where they ran circles around the others, nearly toppling Qrow and scaring the living daylights out of Blake. 

“I’m gonna getcha!” Ozpin barked playfully as the fox kit darted toward the dojo.

“No you’re not!” Oscar yipped back, “I’m too fast, and you’re too old!”

Oh that was it, Ozpin ran a bit faster and quickly over took Oscar in the dojo, pushing the little kit onto his back and nuzzling his belly. Oscar’s tails were wagging up a storm and his legs kicked and batted at Ozpin, who licked Oscar’s face before laying down next to him and pushing him to his side with his nose.

*Now who’s too old?* he chuckled, his tail thumping on the ground.

*Still you.* Oscar retorted, nuzzling the side of Ozpin’s neck before jumping in front of him. *Come on, you’re not tired already, are you? Let’s keep playing!*

Ozpin let out a huff and stood, shaking himself off and gently bopping Oscar on the top of his head. *Let’s get the others! The more the merrier after all!*

Oscar jumped up and down in excitement and shot off to get the others, Ozpin following quickly after. He walked in to find Oscar pulling on Ruby’s cape, yapping for her to follow him and play outside. Ozpin trotted merrily to Qrow and bowed down, his tail wagging in the air.

“Come on Qrow! Like old times!” he barked, jumping up to put his paws on Qrow’s shoulders and licking his face.

Qrow laughed and pushed Ozpin’s face away from him, “Alright, alright. Rubes, they wanna play. It’s easier to just go with it!” 

Ozpin hopped down from Qrow’s shoulder and spun in a happy circle, trotting to the stairs and back. Ruby giggled and followed after, the others following in amusement. Soon they were all outside, luckily it was a lovely day out. 

Oscar was the first to initiate the mass playtime, running around and jumping at everyone. Nora and Ruby giggled quickly kneeling down and playing with the fox kit. Ozpin bowed down at Qrow before tackling him to the ground and licking all over his face. Qrow laughed and pushed Ozpin off, initiating a wrestling match between the two. It mostly consisted of Ozpin jumping on Qrow and Qrow throwing him to the ground. 

Blake stayed to the side with Yang and Jaune, while Weiss looked torn. Ozpin noticed her trepidation and trotted over to her, gently taking her hand into his maw and leading her into the fray. Oscar quickly darted over and pounced at Weiss’s ponytail, making the pale girl giggle and shake her head, enticing Oscar to try again. The young kit jumped again but landed on his back, where Qrow was quick to swoop in and give him a belly rub. 

Ozpin nosed his way under Qrow’s arm and whined, he wanted belly rubs too. Qrow laughed, “You want some too Oz? Alright, roll over.” 

Ozpin happily complied, rolling onto his back next to Qrow who abandoned Oscar in favor of Ozpin. The fox kit was quickly stolen away by Weiss who began giving belly tickles before lifting her hands, prompting Oscar to throw his paws up before she continued with the tickles. Ruby petal burst over to Qrow and joined him in giving Ozpin belly rubs, while Nora began playing with Oscar’s back legs or rubbing his ears. 

The playing lasted a while longer, Ozpin chased his former students around the yard while Qrow threw Oscar in the air before catching him and blowing a raspberry into his belly. But eventually the hour grew late and everyone went inside happy and tired after their day of play. Qrow ordered them some pizza (which Ozpin and Oscar may or may not have begged at the table for), and they all settled down for a movie (Miss.Doubtfire, an old favorite of Ozpin's). Ruby, Nora, Weiss and Jaune settled around Ozpin while Oscar curled up in Qrows lap, with Yang and Blake cuddling behind Ozpin on the couch. 

Everyone at some point just gravitated closer to each other until everyone was cuddled together in a big warm pile. Ozpin and Oscar gave Qrow a look when “Dude looks like a lady” began playing and he grumbled, pushing their faces back towards the screen. Blake and Yang looked confused at the snickers that rippled across the room, but Ruby shook her head and mouthed “Later” to them and they settled back down. 

It was a few hours later when Oscar woke, feeling too warm and stuffy. So he wiggled his way out of the cuddle pile, shook himself off, and trotted sleepily outside for some fresh air. Sitting on the ground, he yawned and looked out over the city, but an odd glow caught his eyes. Turning his head, he froze at the sight of a large black tiger with white and red stripes and red eyes staring at him. He blinked and the tiger was gone, he looked around for a moment before he felt someone coming up behind him. Turning his head he was relieved to see Ozpin standing there looking tired.

*What are you doing up?* Ozpin asked tiredly.

*Just needed some fresh air.* he replied, yawning and blinking slowly.

Ozpin bent down and took Oscar’s scruff into his mouth, lifting him up and trotting back inside. *Well you got your air, let’s head back inside.*

*Ok.* he sighed, sending a final glance to the outside before he lost sight of it. All the while, unbeknownst to the pair, a set of red eyes watched them closely from the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	3. A Trip To The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's our Grimm queen gotta say to all this hullabaloo?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome! To chapter 3! Yay!

Salem was bored. Ozpin hadn’t shown himself, Hazel, Cinder, Mercury and Emerald had failed at Haven, and she needed to get out for a minute. So she pulled on her magic, shifted into an eagle and took flight, headed for Misteral. Upon reaching her destination she shifted to her animal form of a black tiger with red and white stripes. She stalked through the forests near the city, simply observing the people going by before moving to look more around the town.

She kept close to the shadows as she moved, though it was the sound of children's laughter that drew her attention. She watched as a large group of young adults froliced about the home’s yard with an adorable little fox kit and a regal looking dire wolf. She recognized that wolf, her spies had picked up on Ozpin’s whereabouts when he still lived, and this was his animal form. But he was dead, so how… the fox kit. That must be his new incarnation, it was the only way. No natural fox had three tails like that. The little kit looked so young, too young to be here.

*Those damn gods.* she thought with a growl, *Have they no shame? Dragging a mere child into this?*

Salem felt the anger rise in her, she hated dragging children into this. After the death of her children all those millenia ago, she swore off ever harming another child. All attacks she coordinated would have the specific order to not allow harm to come to children as part of the plan. Though, it seems certain information still eluded her. She had no idea Ozpin’s new incarnation was so young, or that the child of Summer was still so young either. She never would have sent Tyrian to get her if she had known, and she most certainly wouldn’t have sent Hazel if she had known Ozpin was now in a child's body. 

Salem stewed in her anger and guilt as she watched the children play with the dire wolf and little pup. She was genuinely shocked when Ozpin rolled onto his back, begging for belly rubs from the tall spikey haired one. He was acting like an oversized puppy, not the regal and dignified warrior she was used to. He was acting… happy, silly even. So used to how he was when they had been together so long ago, before she was an immortal monster, before this whole war began. 

She fondly remembered their romps in the woods, Ozma would turn into a regal lion and she into a tiger, and they would spend the day playing and chasing each other. Those had been such happy times, and even in their second lives they would play with their daughters. Who each took the form of a liger cub. She wished they could go back to that, she wished she could do it all again and change their ending. But alas, now it was too late to turn back, the rage that filled her heart was too great and the hatred Ozpin must hold for her would be too strong. They could never go back.

She continued watching the group play for some time, watching as Ozpin chased the children around the yard, and the garnet eyed man tossed the fox kit in the air and caught him, blowing raspberries into his belly. Eventually they all went back into the house, and Salem peeked through a window as they cuddled together and watched a movie. She can’t remember the last time she had simply relaxed and cuddled with someone, the last person she could ever remember holding her was Ozma. She didn’t realize how much she missed it. At one point Ozpin and the fox kit looked knowingly at the spikey haired one when a song began playing, and everyone snickered leading Salem to sense there must be a rather funny story there. 

Soon all were asleep and Salem, not wanting to return to her castle just yet, stuck around and looked for somewhere nearby to sleep for the night. But she stopped at seeing the fox kit come outside, and they briefly locked eyes. Salem quickly shifted into a tiny bug, not wanting to give away her presence just yet, she shifted back when she was a safer distance away. She watched as Ozpin came out of the house and gently carried the fox kit by his scruff back inside. This was the moment she truly decided to stay for a while, she wanted to watch them a bit closer. Maybe she could find a way to keep them from ruining her plans without harming them. 

The following day was… interesting, to say the least. The children were certainly entertaining to watch, especially Ozpin and his latest incarnation, who she learned was named Oscar. She was highly amused to watch the tickle war that erupted between Ozpin and Oscar. The boy was hilariously ticklish, and Ozpin seemed to have a blast nuzzling his nose into his belly, or brushing his tail over his neck. Each action sending the child into a flurry of giggles and snorts. Of course by the looks of it Oscar got his revenge, tickling Ozpin on his back paws or around his ears. Salem knew well that even in animal form, one could feel the same sensations as a human, such as ticklishness. 

She fondly remembered the many tickle fights she got into with Ozma. One of her favorite memories was a tickle war they had with their daughters where she and the girls utterly destroyed the man. The other children were rather sweet to watch as well, Ruby she found was only about 16, while Oscar was only 14. And they were adorable together, Oscar had such a sweet little crush on the girl, and she was a bit oblivious but seemed to like him too. Puppy love never failed to make her smile. She found that the two children had a love for cookies, and Oscar had a talent for baking them. Ozpin had at one point stolen a small plate of the cookies, prompting a rather humorous chase through the house. Ruby had shouted “Professor Ozpin, you cookie thief! You give those back!” he had only ran faster before Ruby had sped forward with what must have been her semblance and grabbed the cookies. Oscar had tackled Oz once the cookies were safe and began another tickle war between the three of them. Ozpin had lost that one spectacularly, poor man.

Later that day Salem watched from a distance as they came out and trained. Ruby was rather skilled with her scythe, but her hand to hand could use some work. Oscar was interesting to watch, his skill with the cane was decent as was his hand to hand, but occasionally he would pull off a move that was very much Ozpin. Ozpin himself joined in on the sparing, allowing the kids to take pot shots at him while he dodged. Not a single person was able to land a hit on him, not that they didn’t try. The blonde girl, Yang, seemed to really get heated at this. Her eyes glowed red and she was shouting profanities as she shot at Ozpin, who simply danced around her hits. The spikey haired one, Qrow, covered Ruby’s ears while Ruby covered Oscar’s ears. The red haired one, Nora, was also covering the other blonde one, Jaune’s, ears. 

Eventually Yang seemed to lose steam and sit back down against the wall, grumbling all the while. Ozpin went up to her and licked her face, his tail wagging and his eyes asking for forgiveness.

“He says, you got really close a few times.” Oscar had said, reaching out to rub the top of Ozpin's head. 

Yang replied by grumbling more, but began giggling when Ozpin licked her face more and nuzzled his face against hers. “Ok, ok! Fine! I’m not mad anymore!” she snickered, pushing Ozpin’s face away from her.

Nora was the next to face him, but that fight didn’t last long as Nora pulled out a ball and began a game of fetch. And it was truly over when she pushed him onto his back and gave him belly rubs. Salem was laughing internally at the display, and only laughed harder at Yang's incredulous face. 

“Oz, you’re such a Mr.No shame for belly rubs you know that?” Oscar teased when Nora trotted back to the wall.

Ozpin nodded and rolled back onto his back, his tail wagging up a small breeze. Qrow had begun laughing uproariously, and Salem felt she had just gotten the best bit of innocent blackmail on Ozpin in years. The day continued like that for a while, the rest of the children taking the training a bit more seriously than Nora, despite Ozpin seeming to treat it more like playtime than training. Something Oscar had joined in whole heartedly, turning into his fox kit form and playing with Ozpin, effectively ending the training. 

Eventually the hour grew late and the large group went back inside, Salem came closer to the house peeking inside and watching as they ate dinner and retired to bed. She would have done the same, but something told her to return to the yard, hiding in the grass she spotted a small figure coming out to the house. It was Oscar, still in his fox kit form, and he was holding a ball in his mouth. He sat down in the middle of the yard, setting the ball down and seemingly waiting for something. 

It was with a start that Salem realized he was waiting for her, she debated revealing herself, but any argument was abolished when Oscar locked eyes with her and his tails began wagging. She froze, she should go, she shouldn’t be here, this was her enemy, child or not. She was brought out of her internal monologue by the ball Oscar had brought hitting her paws. She looked at him, tilting her head curiously and he bowed, his tails wagging. “Wanna play?” he barked, his eyes hopeful and too cute for Salem to say no to.

Salem tentatively grabbed the ball with her mouth and leapt over the fence into the yard. She came up to the little fox, truly realizing how tiny he was now that she was close, and dropped the ball in front of him. He stepped back slightly, a look of fear crossing his face. It seems he wasn’t quite prepared for her being so large. 

She laid down in front of him, hoping to put him slightly at ease and nudged the ball closer to him with her nose. He batted at the ball and pushed it back to her, she rolled onto her back and let out a strong huff of wind from her nose, blowing it back to Oscar. The fox kit let out a sound very similar to a giggle and batted the ball back to her, she blew it right back, and he made the sound again and spun in a happy little circle. She chuckled internally and flopped to her side lifting her paw and gently booping Oscar on the top of his head. He giggled and moved up cautiously before booping her nose and running away. She got up, shook herself off, and trotted over to the boy. He hunched down a bit and she gently used her paw to push him onto his back and lowered her head to nuzzle Oscar’s belly. He began giggling up a storm and wiggling under her nose, batting at her with his front paws. 

She let up her nuzzling and layed down again, Oscar rolled over and trotted up to her, booping her nose again and running off. She huffed playfully and followed after him, he was bowed in front of the ball and his tails were wagging merrily in the air. She batted the ball away and he chased after it, did a little dance around it, picked it up, and brought it back to Salem. They continued this game for a time before she heard the sounds of movement headed towards them. She went to Oscar and gently nuzzled the top of his head in a temporary goodbye before leaping over the fence and disappearing into the foliage. She watched as Ozpin came out and, like before, lifted Oscar by his scruff and carried him inside. The little cub caught her eye and wiggled a paw in goodbye, melting Salem’s heart further. 

A few more days passed like that. Salem would watch the children during the day, and play with Oscar during the night. She knew she shouldn’t, but he was just so sweet and she always had such a soft spot for children. Eventually it was decided among the group that they would finally leave to Argus, they were hoping to catch a ride to Atlas from the military base there. A smart plan, if unlikely, she knew well enough how uptight Atlas personnel could be. They likely wouldn’t allow them passage through. 

Still she couldn’t stop them, nor would she try. Instead she transformed back into an eagle and flew to her castle. Upon reaching her castle she turned back into her human form and called upon Arthur.

“You needed me, my lady?” he asked upon entering the throne room.

“I want you to find out everything you can about one Oscar Pine.” she said cooley, “Tell me everything you find.”

“Yes my lady.” he says, stepping out of the room without another word.

She didn’t have to wait long for the information she sought, once Arthur handed her the scroll she scanned over the information before her. Oscar Pine, 14 years old, lived in Misteral with his aunt, mother and father deceased. It was that last bit of information that truly caught her attention. 

“He’s an orphan…” she murmured, her brow furrowed in concern. 

“Is that all you need my lady?” Arthur asked, drawing her attention away from the scroll.

“Yes Arthur, thank you. You may go.” she said, idly waving him away.

“Yes my lady.” he bowed and walked out of the room.

Salem continued to read the scroll, and was horrified by what she found. Oscar Pine’s parents were killed by Silver Shores, a notorious serial killer from Misteral. The killer broke one of 4 year old Oscar’s legs and set the house aflame to rid the area of evidence. But Oscar survived and was found by firefighters, he had been instrumental in the capture of Silver Shores. He now lives with his Aunt Emelia Pine in Misteral. 

“That poor child.” she whispered, “To bear witness to such tragedies so young.” 

In that moment she knew what she needed to do. She would not allow such a sweet young child to fall to this war. She couldn't, no, she wouldn’t harm him. She would protect this child, plans be damned, she would not harm a child. 

“Tyrian!” she called, “Arthur! I need both of you in here!” 

Soon both her subordinates were standing in her presence, Arthur was calm and seemed unsurprised to be called back, Tyrian was grinning widely and practically bouncing where he stood.

“You needed us, my liege?” Tryian grinned, his tail swishing idly behind him.

“The plans have changed. You are to leave Ozpin and the group he is traveling with alone. You are not to harm them under any circumstances, and you are to leave them be.” she commanded.

“Yes my liege, whatever you wish!” Tyrian said, bowing low though Salem could see his smile falter slightly.

“Of course my lady.” Arthur said, bowing less extravagantly. 

“Your new mission is to get Hazel, Emerald and Mercury out of jail. They are being held in Mistral, I’m sure you can do so easily. And you are to pass my orders onto them about Ozpin and his group. Is that understood?”

Both men quickly agreed and Salem sent them on their way, Tyrian scampered off but Arthur stayed behind for a moment longer. “Does this have anything to do with the boy my lady?” he asked.

“Yes, it does. I met him in Misteral, he’s such a sweet boy. He shouldn’t be a part of this war.” she sighed.

Arthur chuckled, “You did always have a soft spot for children.”

Salem smirked, “And you don’t?” 

They shared a chuckle and Salem looked at him, “I’m going to be going back to Misteral. I would like to keep an eye on the child. I feel like he’s going to need all the help he can get.” 

“Very good my lady. I'll prepare a break out plan for our wayward teammates. And talk to Tyrian, he’ll probably be pouting over not getting to hurt Ozpin's group.” Arthur smiled, giving her a somewhat playful bow and left.

She shook her head with a chuckle and stepped outside, taking a deep breath she leapt off the balcony and turned into her eagle form. She flew to Mistral and seemed to show up just in time as the group was locking up the house and leaving. She followed them to the train station, laughing internally at the two “huntsmen” that tried to talk to them, and the faces that Yang and Ruby made at them. As she looked over the group he noticed some movement coming from the top of Oscar’s head. Looking closer she spotted a little silver mouse hiding in the boy's dark curls. Her body shook slightly with silent laughter at the sight, this train must not allow pets onboard.

Salem turned herself into a small bird and flew into the train, turning then into a black mouse and keeping out of sight while she followed the group. They eventually split off, the girls minus Nora going into one compartment, and the boys with Nora and minus Qrow went into another. She followed Oscar and smiled as she saw Ozpin move down to the back of his collar. She hid in a corner where she could keep a close eye on Oscar and Ozpin, and listen absentmindedly to the kid's chatter. 

“I can’t believe we actually snuck Oz in with your hair!” Nora giggled, reaching behind Oscar to pat the top of Ozpin’s head. 

“I think we’re just lucky that Oscar has such fluffy hair.” Jaune said teasingly, ruffling Oscar’s hair.

Oscar giggled and pushed the older boy's hand away from him, “It’s not that fluffy.” He paused, seemingly listening to something, “It’s not Oz!” he protested whatever it was Ozpin said. The little mouse began nuzzling and pawing at the back of Oscar’s neck, making the young boy giggle and cringe. “Stop it! Oz! Hehe! Thahat tickles! Ha!”

Salem smiled to herself as Oscar giggled, before he gently grabbed Ozpin and wiggled a finger into the little mouse's belly. Salem could hear the little squeaks of mousy laughter and she chuckled. Oscar eventually left, claiming he wanted to grab some food, and Salem followed him. It was part of the way to the food car that the train suddenly shook, nearly sending Oscar sprawling on the floor. He quickly recovered though and ran to a nearby window, opening it and sticking his head out, only to quickly pull it back in as a manticore flew past. 

He flinched as he came back inside, “No, you need to stay hidden for now.” he whispered to Ozpin.

As he moved away from the window Jaune bumped into him, startling the boy. “What’s going on?” he asked. 

But a screech from outside gave him an answer before Oscar could. They looked at each other and nodded each running out to help with the fight. Salem followed after, she could at least keep the Grimm from harming the children. She ran to Oscar before he left and clung to his boot, something that became a bit more difficult when they were outside. 

He ran up to Qrow and asked, “What can I do to help?” Oh, he was such a sweet boy.

“You can get that idiot to shut off the turrets! They’re just drawing the Grimm towards the passengers!” he replied as he shot down more Grimm.

Salem would have been more upset over her Grimm being destroyed, but she didn’t exactly have a choice. Not if she wanted to keep hidden.

“Right!” Oscar said confidently. He quickly took off, running and jumping across the train top. Leaving Ozpin and Salem to cling to him for dear life. “Stop!” he shouted as he reached one of the earlier huntsmen. “You’ve got to turn the turrets off!”

“Are you crazy?” the man shouted back, “No way!” and the turret shot another one of her Grimm down. “Yes!” the man cheered, “another one down!”

“Stop!” Oscar cried, spinning the man around by his shoulder, “You have to lure the Grimm to the back!”

“What does it matter if they’re dead!” he angrily replied, shoving Oscar off him. 

That was when the Alpha Manticore screeched, calling the others to it. Salem grew worried, her Grimm wouldn’t retreat unless either she ordered it, or… something was coming.

“Where are they going?” the huntsman asked confused. 

Oscar’s face took a look of sudden realization as he looked ahead. Fear filled his face as he screamed “TUNNEL!” 

The huntsman turned and showed the same fear on his face as Oscar. The boy quickly ran forward and let himself fall safely in between the train cars, a smart move on his part. But as they entered the tunnel, Salem heard a crunch and a pained cry from the huntsman. He must not have gotten in on time. Oscar quickly opened the door to the train car and went in, followed soon after by the huntsman who was shouting and groaning in pain while holding his very clearly injured arm.

Oscar knelt by him worriedly and hovered his hands above the man, clearly unsure on how to proceed. It was moments later that the rest of the group entered, looks ranging from concern to anger on their faces. Though, the anger was mostly on Qrow as the older man quickly stomped forward. 

“I said, turn those damn things off!” he growled, lifting the other huntsman up and slamming him into the door.

“Those things, are keeping us alive!” he retaliated through gritted teeth. Salem almost felt bad for him. Almost.

“Us sure, but they’re putting the passengers in danger!” Qrow retorted angrily. 

“Who do you think you are? I’m in charge here!” the other all but whined. He sounded like a petulant child, honestly. 

“Forgive me if I’m not exactly, reassured.” Qrow said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. 

Salem was about two seconds away from revealing herself just to get these two idiots to shut up. They were full grown men, huntsmen no less, and they were acting like children. All the while the actual children were standing to the side, unsure and needing guidance. Not that they would find it here.

The two continued to argue as Salem looked up at Oscar. He looked scared, unsure, not that Salem could blame him. Out of everyone here, despite being paired with Ozpin, he had the least amount of experience in these situations. She wished she could hug him right now, but that would probably be a bad idea.

Qrow was shouting something about “shaking down passengers” and “doing your damn jobs” when Ruby pulled him back. “Please just shut off the turrets.” she said calmly. 

The man growled and seemed like he was about to argue more when Jaune stepped up, “Trust us, we know what we’re doing.” The blonde boy's hands glowed with his aura, seeming to activate and amplify the other huntsmans own aura. 

The man's pants breathing slowed, and he seemed to calm down. Looking wide eyed and Jaune and Ruby before he growled, “Fine.”

Ruby gave a resolute nod as Nora piped up, “Ren, could you use your semblance to mask everyone on this train? With the guns off and emotions hidden, they might lose track of us.” 

“I’ve never attempted to affect this many people before.” he said worriedly.

Salem knew it wouldn’t work. Even without emotions to draw them there was still the relic, and her Grimm wouldn’t give up a chase so easily. But, she could use this opportunity to call off her Grimm. It was too perfect of a moment to pass up. So as the group set their plan into motion, Salem scampered off and out of the train car. She turned herself into a monkey to climb the side of the car and finally into a black dove and took flight. Her plan was as soon as the children were far enough away she would call her Grimm to retreat, pulling them back until the train was safely out of their range and then she would let them go and return to the train.

This plan was quickly changed when she saw Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Qrow, and Oscar, still on the train. *Damn it.* she thought, *Ok. New plan. Pull back some Grimm, and let them fight the remaining ones without letting anyone get hurt.* 

With the new plan in store she pulled some of her Grimm back, leaving them on the other side of the tunnel. Now they would only need to face a handful of manticores and an alpha. Their fight was fairly impressive Salem would admit, they fought well. Even if she was giving them a handicap against the Grimm. She got sloppy though, she let her control slip a bit when her Alpha Manticore got its wings chopped off. It hurt her to see her creations die. She made them, can anyone blame her for being a bit upset? But that slip caused the manticore to unleash a fireball before it was killed, the shot sailed over everyone's heads and hit the tracks. Salem saw Weiss use her glyphs to keep everyone steady on the train as it plowed into the snow. She flew down and landed in a nearby tree, from the looks of it, everyone was alive. 

“Is everyone ok?” Qrow asked upon getting up from the snow.

“I’m fine.” Weiss was first to reply.

“Yeah.” Blake said while Yang helped Ruby up.

“Still alive!” an unfamiliar voice called out suddenly from behind Qrow, making the man scream like a little girl. “That sure was a close one huh?”

“Who the hell are you?” he cried, clutching his chest, “Ya damn near gave me a heart attack lady!”

“I am Maria Calavera young man! And you had better show me the proper respect!” she sniped back. 

Salem damn near fell out of her tree with how hard she was holding her laughter back. And from the shake of the others shoulders and how they were biting their lips, they were all in the same boat. The big bad hunter Qrow, brought down by a little old lady. She had a feeling Qrow wasn’t going to live this one down anytime soon. 

The levity ended soon though, as everyone began gathering things they had lost in the crash. Yang seemed to be the most angry though, that didn’t surprise Salem, the golden haired girl did have a tendency for the more… aggressive. 

“This is just perfect isn’t it?” she griped, pulling at her motorcycle in the snow. “We’re forever away from Argus, we lost a third of the group, and we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere!”

“Could be worse! Ruby chirped, “It could be raining!”

“Ruby it’s snowing. It’s the same thing.” Qrow said dryly.

Ruby pouted slightly and continued collecting some other debris. Oscar was sticking close to Maria like the sweet polite boy he is.

“Sorry for trying to be positive.” Salem heard Ruby mumble.

“Positivity isn’t going to get us anywhere!” Yang yelled.

Qrow turned to glare at Yang, “Will you cool it? The last thing we need is more Grimm being drawn cause of your bad attitude.”

“Does that even matter? Apparently we’ve been attracting Grimm since Haven.” Blake argued, her cat ears twisting back angrily on her head.

“Oh and how could I forget that! I thought we agreed no more lies or half truths.” Yang said, making Salem wonder what conversation she had missed out on. And she wondered just what Ozpin had been hiding from his group.

“Yeah,” Oscar said, turning briefly away from Maria, “I think we deserve an explanation.” 

Salem watched and Oscars eyes glowed a brief gold and his posture changed. This was Ozpin now, not her little cub. 

“I did not lie to you.” he said. His voice was different, deeper, and older. 

Salem would have paid attention to their fight, but her attention was captured by the presence of Grimm nearby. She flew off to keep them away from the group, she really hoped they dealt with… whatever this was, quickly. When she flew back a few moments later things seemed to have gone south fast. Oscar, or Ozpin rather, was crying on the ground while the others stood angrily around him. Aside from Maria, who just looked highly confused.

“Professor,” Ruby said, sounding calm but looking angry, “what is your plan to beat Salem?”

Now this she wanted to hear, it had to be something grand, something bold and insane, just like her Ozma.

“I… don’t have one.” he said, tears falling deftly from his eyes.

Oh. That was… not what she was expecting. It… it was easy to forget sometimes, that this wasn’t her Ozma anymore. And it was easy to forget why this war had been going on for so long. In truth, she’s not even sure why she keeps fighting, Ozma is gone, she can’t get him back, she didn’t even really hate him like she used to. Perhaps she was simply bored, maybe she wanted attention from someone who didn’t fear or worship her. Why did she continue this fight? Her train of thought came to a screeching halt when Qrow suddenly punched Ozpin into a tree. 

“I was a curse.” he growled tears welling up in his eyes, “No one wanted me. I followed you because you gave me a place in this world.” 

Salem didn’t hear the rest, she was too lost to her sudden anger. How dare this man harm her cub! It didn’t matter if Ozpin was in control, that was still her cub's body! And he just hurt her cub! No one hurts her cub! Without even thinking about it she transformed into her tiger form and leapt out in front of Oscar with a low protective growl. 

The group all jumped back in shock and drew their weapons. She paid them no mind as she looked back at her cub who looked at her, and from the look of recognition this was Oscar, not Ozpin. He let out a whimper and shifted into his fox form, hiding under her belly and whining. She let out another growl and stepped back, grabbed her cub by the scruff, glared at the group, and walked off. She wasn’t going to allow these monsters to harm her cub again. 

“Hey!” a rough voice called out, “Let him go!” 

She gently put Oscar back down and gave his head a little lick, before turning to square off against the man who dared to harm her cub. She snarled as he drew closer, her hackles raising and claws coming out, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

“That’s enough!” Maria’s voice cut clear through the tension, “Look I don’t have a damn clue what’s happening. But I want to get out of the cold, and this… tiger, seems to want to protect this boy, fox, child. I say we let her!” 

“But-” Yang began,

“No buts!” Maria interrupted, with a stamp of her cane. “Look that tiger didn’t come around until this man,” pointing her cane at Qrow, “punched the boy. She seems to want to protect him. So let her. And look, there’s a path, paths usually lead to somewhere. I suggest we follow it.”

Ruby sighed, “She’s right. We can deal with… this, later. Right now we need to find food and shelter. So let's go.” 

Salem nodded at her and turned back to Oscar, lifting him in her mouth gently and placing him on her back. She would have to stay now, she wasn’t going to leave her cub. Not now or ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	4. Ozpin Needs a Dang Hug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ozpin, does not have a good day. Neither does Oscar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoo! We got another chapter boys girls and nonbinary stills! (yeah I'm gonna work on that) We got extra help on this chapter! From my friend Daist78173! Excitement!

“Ozpin get back here!” Oscar cried as he chased the wolf through the house. 

“Never!” he barked back. They were supposed to be leaving later today, but Ozpin may or may not have rolled in some mud and was now in desperate need of a bath. Thing was? Ozpin did not like baths in wolf form, he downright hated them in fact. Thus, Oscar was now chasing him throughout the house with a scrub brush trying to clean him. 

“You’re gross Oz! You need to be cleaned!” Oscar called back as they reached the living room.

Ruby laughed as Ozpin attempted to hide behind her, “What is going on?” she asked, placing a hand on Ozpin’s head.

“That wolf needs a bath! Look how dirty he is!” Oscar growled, “He won’t let me clean him.”

Ruby turned to get a better look at Ozpin and he whined, giving his best puppy dog eyes to the girl. “Sorry Professor. You’re very dirty.”

“Betrayal!” he howled before taking off again. 

The two kids chased Ozpin all over the house. Over tables, across furniture, upstairs, downstairs, and finally ended in the chase in the backyard. Ruby got in front of him and when he stopped to turn Oscar grabbed him. 

“Qrow! Get the tub! We got him!” Oscar shouted as Oz wiggled and whined in his grip.

*Oscar! Please! I don’t want a bath! I’m not that dirty!* Oz protested, trying to give puppy dog eyes with lowered ears.

“Sorry Ozpin. I’ll try to make it quick.” Oscar apologized, giving Ozpin’s head a reassuring pat.

Qrow soon came out carrying a large metal tub, putting it down he brought out doggy shampoo and conditioner and dog safe bubble bath. “Figured he might not mind so much if we gave him bubbles.”

“Will you let this happen if we let you have bubbles?” Oscar asked, still holding tight to Ozpin.

Ozpin was quiet for a moment before, *Fine. But it had better be a lot.*

“He said yes!” Oscar beamed as he finally let Ozpin up.

A few minutes later the tub was filled with water, bubbles, and a very grumpy dire wolf. Ozpin would be angrier but the others seemed to be having so much fun, and he couldn’t really stay mad at that. Qrow was mostly splashing the kids, Ruby kept putting bubbles on top of his head, and Oscar was the only one who was actually washing him. Finally Oz was all washed up and clean. As he stepped out of the tub and gave the others an evil look and began vigorously shaking himself off. Ruby shrieked and petal dashed away, Qrow tried to protect himself with his arms, and Oscar just laughed and gave Oz a playful shove. 

“We’re not done yet Oz.” Oscar said, wrapping his arms around Ozpin’s neck. “We actually have a surprise for you.”

Ozpin felt his tail thump against the ground and he gave Oscar’s face a lick, cuddling into his arms happily. *You don’t need to do anything for me.*

“We want to.” Oscar said, nuzzling into Ozpin’s neck, “You deserve nice stuff too, Oz, and we wanted to do this.”

Ozpin felt his heart warm and licked behind Oscar’s ear, earning a small giggle from the boy. Their moment was broken by Ruby barreling towards them, she stopped just before reaching them and bounced on her feet. Oz noticed she was hiding something behind her back and he jumped up with his tail wagging.

*Is that the surprise?* he asked Oscar, doing a happy dance in place. 

“Yes. Now chill out.” Oscar chuckled, holding his hand out to Ruby. 

Ozpin wiggled impatiently as Oscar took the bag, he couldn’t see what was in it and was dying to know. 

“Alright Oz, close your eyes.” he grinned. Ozpin closed his eyes and felt something being put around his neck and something put on his face. “Ok, open your eyes.”

Opening his eyes he didn’t see anything, but then Ruby held up her scroll with the camera facing him. His eyes widened at the sight, around his neck was a bandana the same color as his old scarf, on his face was a pair of spectacles nearly identical to his old ones. He looked at the grinning trio before him and felt he might cry.

“We thought you might like something… familiar to wear.” Qrow said with a soft smile.

Ozpin looked down at the bandana and looked back at the group before lunging at them and licking and nuzzling them in thanks. They laughed and hugged him tight.

“I actually learned a spell to keep them on you no matter what! Even if you transform!” Oscar chirped, kissing Oz on his muzzle.

Ozpin whined and licked all over Oscar’s face, *Thank you! Thank you so much! I love them!* 

Oscar laughed, “You’re welcome! He says he loves them!”

“Yay!” Ruby cheered, nuzzling against Ozpin’s neck. 

They went back inside soon after to show off Ozpin’s new gear. 

A few days later they were headed for Argus, they planned on talking to the military personnel there and hopefully get a ride to Atlas. Worse came to worse, they would send a letter to James asking for a ride and wait in Argus for a while. 

Walking into the station Ozpin trotted dutifully at Oscar’s side, happily wagging his tail and smiling at the people that passed by. But before they were able to get the ticket counter when they were stopped by security.

“I’m sorry young man, but no pets allowed.” the faunus woman said firmly.

“But ma’am he’s not a pet! He’s...uh... my emotional support animal!” Oscar said, kneeling down and wrapping his arms around Ozpin's neck.

“Where are his papers?” she asked incredulously.

“I didn’t know I needed papers.” he said lamely.

She shook her head, “I’m sorry. But no pets on the train.”

“Alright.” Qrow interjected, putting a hand on Oscar’s shoulder. “It’s fine, thank you ma’am.”

The group walked outside to figure out how to proceed.

“We could have him turn himself into something small and act like he’s a stuffed animal!” Nora suggested.

“Nah, he sucks at staying still.” Qrow said, waving her off.

Ruby hummed, “I think she’s onto something though. If the professor is small enough we could hide him in a pocket or a bag or…” She locked eyes with Oscar and grinned.

“What? What is it?” he asked, looking around curiously.

This was how Ozpin, as a mouse, ended up curled up in Oscars stupidly fluffy hair. He was not happy. Sure Oscar’s hair was very soft and very warm, but this was humiliating. Stupid rules, making him hide in Oscar’s hair. Stupid Oscar’s hair being warm and making him sleepy. Stupid curse for putting him in this stupid situation. 

“Can you stop pouting, you grumpy baby? I don’t like this either.” Oscar whispered, slightly shaking his head. “You can turn back later.”

*But this is so-so undignified! And humiliating!* he replied.

“You, Mr.Give me belly rubs or I’ll die, is talking about undignified? Mr.No shame is talking about being humiliated?” Oscar asked incredulously. 

*You’re mean.* Ozpin pouted.

Oscar scoffed, “It’s either the mouse form, or going back inside my head. Your choice Oz.”

Ozpin grumbled but said no more, settling down for a quick nap on Oscar’s hair. He felt Oscar’s amusement through their bond and he stamped his tiny foot in retaliation. Oscar snorted and picked up a random magazine to read. 

Soon they were on the train and making their way to Argus. Team RWBY went to their car, Oscar went with team JNR, and Qrow went to the dining car. In their temporary quarters Oz dropped to the back of Oscar's neck, while Nora quickly broke down laughing as soon as the doors were closed. 

“I can’t believe we actually snuck Oz in with your hair!” Nora giggled, reaching behind Oscar to pat Ozpin’s head.

“I think we’re just lucky Oscar has such fluffy hair.” Jaune teased, ruffling Oscar’s hair. 

Ozpin smiled while Oscar giggled and pushed Jaune’s hand away, “It’s not that fluffy!”

*Are you sure about that?* Ozpin chuckled.

“It’s not Oz!” he protested.

Ozpin chuckled again and began nuzzling and pawing at the back of Oscar’s neck, making the boy cringe and giggle. “Stop it! Hehe! Thahat tickles! Ha!” 

Ozpin squeaked in surprise when Oscar reached back and grabbed him, wiggling a finger gently into his belly. Ozpin let out a near silent stream of squeaky giggles, and in an attempt to escape the tickles he dissipated his animal form and returned to Oscar’s mind. 

“Welp, guess that’s that.” Nora chirped, “I’m going to get some food. You are all welcome to join me!”

“Yeah, I could go for some food!” Oscar replied cheerily, bouncing up from his seat.

This was when things began to fall apart. Grimm attacked, the group had been forced to split up, and part of the train crashed. Yang was mad, everyone was mad really. Except for Maria, she seemed indifferent, and confused. 

“I did not lie to you.” he said. They had never asked if the Relic attracted Grimm, so that wasn’t a lie… technically. Though, he had lied about how many questions the relic held, and about not lying to them. But he had a good reason for all of it.

“Well you certainly didn’t tell us everything about the Relic.” Weiss deadpanned. Ozpin was not in the mood for this right now. He was cold, they only just got out of a train crash, and Oscar seemed mad so that wasn’t helping.

“Please, now is not the time.” Brother’s he was tired. How many times had he done this? How many people had turned on him like this? How many times had he deserved it?

“No we’re past that!” Yang argued, “I wanna know why you’re still not telling us everything.”

Maybe because he barely knew them? Honestly, he had only met each of them barely a year ago. Baring Yang and Ruby, but they were far too young to remember such days. They used to be so small, so innocent and sweet. My how time flies. 

“It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics, it’s faint but undeniable. I believe it had to do with their origin but I’m not entirely sure.” It’s not like the gods had really explained any of this to him. Couple of bastards they were. “Regardless, I feared telling you would only bring anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safe option.”

“Ya know, I'm getting real tired of people choosing what’s best for me.” Weiss said flatly. Ozpin had to agree in a sense, he was tired as well. Tired of people not understanding why he kept these things secret. They were only children though, they couldn’t possibly understand his plight.

“Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?” Yang accused. And what would she have him do? Tell everyone about how he betrayed them to the queen of Grimm? How he helped orchestrate a part of the Fall of Beacon? Yes, that would have gone over beautifully.

“Yes as a matter of fact.” he replied, not sure if the anger he now felt was his or Oscars. “I believed the kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the truth. And I believed that Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years.”

“Missteps?” Yang said angrily, her voice rising.

“What Professor Lionheart did is reprehensible, I am not here to argue differently. But does one lapse in judgment truly negate all his good? Do we not all have regrets?” Brothers knew he did. “You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him.”

“Look, we’re supposed to be in this. Together. You can trust us, we’re not gonna turn our backs on you!” Yang's words fractured something in Ozpin at that moment. A swell of anger filled him at that moment.

“Do you really think Leo was the first?” he cried, his voice nearly giving away the tidal wave of emotions that was threatening to over take him. “That he didn’t say those exact same words to me? I’m sorry but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I’m not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me, I’m saying that I have reasons for the things that I do and the secrets I keep. The reason I-” the relic wasn’t on his hip. It should be there. How had he not noticed? Where was it? “Where’s the relic?”

“Right here.” Ruby said, Brothers she sounded so hurt. So… sad. He hated making her feel this way, she-no, not just her. None of these children deserved this. What he wouldn’t give to go back, and do so many things over. But, he couldn’t. And right now, he needed the relic. “It got scattered in the crash.”

“Please hand it over.” He couldn’t let her keep hold of it. He couldn’t risk her summoning Jinn. It was unlikely, but just one slip of the tongue and it was all over.

She looked away from him, “So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?” Oh Ruby. Such a simple soul, could never understand.

He sighed, “That’s not what I meant to suggest. Miss.Rose the relic is a powerful item and I simply feel as though it is my burden to bear.” And he can’t risk her saying her name. 

“But you said it couldn’t do anything right now.” Ruby questioned. Damn it. He couldn’t let them keep the lamp. He couldn’t let them find out the truth.

Blake stepped forward, “Why does it matter who carries it?”

He wasn’t going to take this a moment longer, “I need you to listen to me-” he stopped. What was-Oscar.

*What are you doing?* he asked desperately. *Oscar please, I can’t.*

*Let them know the truth? Yeah. I know. But I trust them, and they’re going to know.* Oscar replied, fighting against Ozpin for control.

“Hurry…” Oscar rasped, “He’s, trying to stop you.”

“Stop her from what?” Yang challenged.

“He’s afraid… you’ll find. Out what he’s… hiding.” Oscar fell to his knees.

*Oscar! This is not a fight you can win! You don’t understand!* Ozpin thought, *They can’t know, please! I can’t do this!*

“Her name… Is Jinn. Say her name to summon her.” Oscar struggled, as he pulled and trashed at Ozpin's attempts to pull him back.

“Her... name?” Ruby questioned, gazing intently at the lamp. “Jinn?”

Everything stopped. Ozpin had lost. And he couldn’t bear repeating what transpired after they asked their question. How he had ran at Ruby, seeing his own death over again, seeing his children… everything hurt so much. He was so tired. He only wanted to rest. He wanted to end this torturous cycle. He couldn’t do this anymore. He couldn’t DO THIS ANYMORE! He wanted it to stop! 

He was crying, on his knees before the people who not but a few hours ago, were giving his lupin form a bath and laughing with him. The people who gave him a new bandana and glasses to replace his old ones, to make him happy. Why? Why is this how it always went? He deserved it though. He was the true curse. He was a horrible person, who deserved all the pain and misery the world heaped on him. Qrow was right. To meet him, was the worst luck anyone could have. And thus, he kindly scattered. The only kind thing he could do right now.

Oscar’s cheek hurt, Qrow had hit him. Brothers, he felt horrible. He didn’t know that… that was what Ozpin had gone through. Had he known… he’s not sure. All he knew is that Ozpin was gone now, and he was alone. The people around him were angry, they hated him, they hated Oz. 

That was when a familiar form suddenly leapt out in front of him. The tiger, the one who he had been playing with all these nights. What was she doing here? She looked at him, and he felt a sudden wave of emotions overtake him. Relief, sorrow, fear, all of it flooded his senses and all he could think to do was whimper and fall into his fox form. He hid under his new protector’s belly and whined, she wouldn’t let them hurt him again. He felt safe. 

She growled at the others as she stepped back and lifted him by his scruff, she turned her head towards the group one more time before she walked off. He didn’t know where they were going, but he would be fine so long as she was with him. 

“Hey!” Qrow called out, “Let him go!” 

She paused and set him down, gave his head a motherly lick, and turned back to the others. Her stance was defensive, her snarl was menacing, and with her hackles raised she looked 10X bigger than she was. 

“That’s enough!” Maria’s voice cut through the air. “Look I don’t have a damn clue what’s happening. But I want to get out of the cold, and this… tigeress, seems to want to protect this boy, fox, child. I say we let her!” 

“But-” Yang began.

“No buts!” Maria interrupted, with a stamp of her cane. “Look that tigeress didn’t come out until this man,” pointing her cane at Qrow, “punched the boy. She seems to want to protect him. So let her. And look, there’s a path, paths usually lead to somewhere. I suggest we follow it.”

Ruby sighed, “She’s right. We can deal with… this, later. Right now we need to find food and shelter. So let’s go.” 

Oscar saw his new protector nod before turning back to him, taking him gently in her mouth, and placing him on her back. She was warm, and Oscar snuggled into her back with a tiny whine. What was he going to do now? Ozpin was gone, he was surrounded by people who really didn’t like him, and his only friend was a mysterious black tigress. When had his life gotten so weird? And sad. 

Eventually their walking took them to a farm. Oscar did not like this farm, it felt… wrong. He didn’t like it at all. He whined and nuzzled into his protectors back, he felt her stop walking and lifted his head. She gave him a concerned look before moving forward and licked the side of his face. He felt his tail wag slightly and gave her a small smile, one she returned with another lick to his face.

They entered the house, weapons drawn. Minus Oscar, as he had no thumbs to hold a weapon with. They all stood in defensive stances until Maria called out, “Close the darn door will you? It’s freezing out there!”

The tigress took him to the living room of the house, laying down she allowed him to clamber off her back. As soon as he landed, she pulled him close to her with her paw. He wiggled out of her grip, but she quickly pulled him back. 

“Can I please go help the others search the house?” he asked, looking up at the tigress.

“No. I’m keeping you safe and away from them.” she responded, making Oscar realize she had never spoken to him before.

“Who are you?” he asked, tilting his head.

She looked away for a moment before looking back, “You may call me… Midnight. I already know you Oscar.” 

“Why do you look like a Grimm?” he questioned.

She froze at the question, “Well… I… I’m a… uhm… I’m an animal Grimm hybrid. A rare case of one able to live into adulthood.”

Oscar narrows his eyes slightly, but he had no reason to disbelieve her. “Alright. Why are you helping me?”

“In our time together in Misteral I have grown to care about you. I followed you here to make sure you were safe. It would seem I made the right decision.” she finished her explanation with a low growl.

Oscar curled up a bit at the sound, ears flattening in fear. She took notice and softened her features, giving the top of his head a lick. “I don’t mean to scare you little cub. Might I ask you a question though?”

Oscar’s ears perked back up and he nodded, “Yeah, of course.”

“Why were your… companions, attacking you?” she asked.

Oscar curled back into himself, “Well, this may sound a little crazy. But, we found out an old wizard that lives in my head was… keeping a lot of stuff from us. But after seeing everything he went through, I don’t blame him.” he whined and his ears went flat against his head. “He… he fell in love with a woman. Then he died and part of her died with him. She did some really messed up stuff to get him back. But when she did get him back, it wasn’t the same. They had kids, and were basically gods. Then they got into a really bad fight the-the kids didn’t make it.” Oscar sniffled, “He was hurt for such a long time. I-I didn’t know! He’s gone and it’s all my fault! He was hurting so much and we hurt him more! And it’s all my fault!”

“Hush little cub. It’s not your fault. Come here.” she said, pulling him close and licking his head to sooth him. He whined and cried into her, nuzzling and cuddling as far as he could, drinking in every bit of warmth and comfort he could. Soon though he was all cried out and he simply held himself against her and gave her side a grateful lick.

“Thank you Miss.Midnight.” he said quietly. 

“Any time little cub. And there is no need for the “miss” you may simply call me Midnight.” she smiled, and nuzzled the top on his head. 

And then Weiss screamed. The two jumped up and followed the others upstairs, Midnight saw what was in the room before he did. She quickly stepped back and picked up Oscar, taking him back downstairs as he protested. 

“Stop! What happened? Is Weiss ok?” he called, wiggling and wheeling his legs.

“She’s just fine.” Midnight replied once she put him back on the floor downstairs. “You… don’t need to see that. It’s not a sight for cubs.” 

“What was it?” he asked, still trying to get upstairs but being stopped by the tigress's paw pressing down on him.

“Death.” she replied simply, causing Oscar to stop his struggles and look at her shocked.

He stayed quiet and allowed Midnight to pull him close. She snuggled him close as the others came back downstairs, she gave a low growl if anyone came too close. Ruby was the only one to brave stepping near them.

“Umm, Oscar? You weren’t able to get this before so I grabbed it for you.” she set down his cane, he hadn’t even realized he didn’t have it. 

Oscar quickly wiggled out of the tigress’s grip and took the cane in his mouth. He gave Ruby a grateful look and trotted back to Midnight, holding the cane in between his paws. The simple object calmed him down in a way he never even realized he needed. It was familiar and comforting, a bit like Midnight at this moment. 

He felt a wave of tiredness flow over him as the events of the day finally caught up to him. He yawned and cuddled up to Midnight, she was very comfortable. She kind of reminded him of his… “Mama.” And like that, he was sound asleep. Blind to the way the tigress stiffened before giving him a soft, loving look and nuzzled his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	5. Day After The Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot has happened, but a lot more is about too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter!! Super fun to do!!

As Salem walked through the gates of the farm she paused at the sound of whining and the sensation of her cub nuzzling into her fur. She stopped to turn and face him, the poor child. She wished she knew what had happened, why they had hurt him like that. She gave her pup a concerned look before giving the side of his head a lick, a small comfort but one she hoped would help slightly. It seemed to work as he gave her a small smile, something she returned with another lick. 

Upon entering the house she was quick to separate her cub from the others; she would not allow them to harm him again. She laid down and allowed Oscar to clamber (more slide) off her back. Once he landed she pulled him close with her paw, stopping him as he tried to wiggle away from her and pulling him back. Who knows what kind of danger this place held, especially for one so small? No, she would keep her cub right here with her thank you very much.

“Can I please go help the others search the house?” he asked, looking up at her with wide innocent eyes.

She contemplated replying for a moment. She had never really spoken to him before, but if she was to protect him then perhaps communication was best. “No. I’m keeping you safe and away from them.” From those who had harmed him. Stood over him like they were judging him for some unknown crime. It boiled her blood when people were cruel to children. Double that for her cubs.

“Who are you?” A decent question, surprising that he never asked it before. But now Salem was at a crossroads. Should she tell Ozpin's new incarnation, her cub, the truth about who she was? Or should she lie and prolong the inevitable. “You may call me…” with all that he has been through, perhaps a bit of peace with a friend would be best, rather than an enemy. “Midnight.” It was the first name that came to mind, it fit her well, so she would stick with it for now. “I already know you Oscar.” 

She wasn’t really ready for the next question. Though she really should have been.

“Why do you look like a Grimm?” Ok. She could handle this. 

“Well… I…” fell into a Grimm pool? No of course she couldn’t say that! It would give her away in a second. “I’m a… uhm…” wait! That was it! “I’m an animal Grimm hybrid. A rare case of one able to live into adulthood.” Yes. Perfect. Flawless execution Salem.

She grew slightly nervous when Oscar narrowed his eyes, “Alright.” Oh thank the Brothers. “Why are you helping me?”

Now that was a question she could answer with ease. “In our time together in Misteral I have grown to care about you. I followed you here to make sure you were safe. It would seem I made the right decision.” A low growl left her at that. Who knows what could have happened had she not shown up when she did. 

She noticed Oscar curl up with flattened ears, oh dear, she didn’t mean to scare him. She softened her features and gently licked the top of his head. “I didn’t mean to scare you little cub.” now she needed to know something. “Might I ask you a question though?”

She held back a coo at the way his ears perked back up when he nodded, “Yeah, of course.”

“Why were your…” friends wasn’t right, allies didn’t fit either, “companions, attacking you?” companions would work for now. Though she had a few choice things to call them, she just couldn’t say those words in front of the cub.

She grew concerned when Oscar curled back into himself, “Well, this may sound a little crazy.” Darling nothing sounds crazy to her anymore. “But, we found out an old wizard that lives in my head was… keeping a lot of stuff from us.” Oh Oz. You and your secrets. “But after seeing everything he went through, I don’t blame him.” her pup whined and his ears went flat again. What had he seen? What had he learned? “He… he fell in love with a woman.” Oh. “Then he died and part of her died with him.” More than a part little pup. “She did some really messed up stuff to get him back. But when she did get him back, it wasn’t the same.” No, it wasn’t. Though she did miss those days. “They had kids, and were basically gods.” No, they were gods. For a short time, they were true gods of this world. “They got into a really bad fight the-the kids didn’t make it.” Salem felt her heart stop and her blood freeze. She wishes she could forget that night. Sometimes when she closed her eyes, she could still see their faces. Those wide scared eyes, their tearstained faces. Brothers, she would never forgive herself for that. “He was hurt for such a long time. I-I didn’t know! He’s gone and it’s all my fault! He was hurting so much and we hurt him more! And it’s all my fault!” 

She fought back her own rising anguish. Her cub needed her more. “Hush little cub. It’s not your fault. Come here.” she pulled him closer, licking his head to sooth him. It had worked on her children all those years ago. She soothed as best she could as he cried and whined into her side. She felt almost bad for missing this. It had been so long since she had last comforted a child. Soon though he was all cried out, and he simply held himself against her. She smiled a bit when he gave her side a small grateful lick. 

“Thank you Miss.Midnight.” he said quietly. Oh, he was such a sweetheart. 

“Any time little cub. And there is no need for the “miss” you may simply call me Midnight.” she smiled, and nuzzled the top of his head. She would protect him no matter what. She swore it.

And then Weiss screamed. They jumped up and followed the others upstairs. She got to the room before Oscar did. Decomposing bodies lay in the bed, she quickly stepped back. She needed to get Oscar away from this, he didn’t need to see that. She gently lifted him into her mouth and all but ran down stairs with him as he protested.

“Stop! What happened? Is Weiss ok?” He called, wiggling and wheeling his legs. Such a kind boy, his first concern with others, even if they had been cruel to him. 

“She’s just fine.” Salem replied as soon as she put him back on the floor in the living room. “You… you don’t need to see that. It’s not a sight for cubs.” Truthfully it wasn’t a sight for anyone. But she would be damned if she let her cub see such attoricities. Though, something about it seemed almost… familiar.

“What was it?” he asked, trying to get back upstairs. She placed a paw on top of him, he would not see that. 

“Death.” she replied simply, Oscar stopped his struggles and gave her a shocked look. She was thankful for that at least. He was quiet as she pulled him close, snuggling with him as the other came downstairs. She growled at anyone who came close to her and her cub. She likely wouldn’t actually hurt anyone, but a healthy dose of fear wouldn’t kill them. Ruby was the only one to brave coming near them, she was holding something in her hands.

“Umm, Oscar? You weren’t able to get this before so I grabbed it for you.” she put Ozpin’s cane down before them, and stepped back. Hm, maybe this girl wasn’t as bad as the others. Maybe. 

Oscar quickly wiggled out of her grip and grabbed the cane, looking at Ruby gratefully before he trotted back to her. He held the cane between his paws and seemed to visibly relax, something Salem was thankful for, he deserved to have something to calm him. Whether it be her or a cane.

When Oscar yawned and cuddled up to her she could practically feel her heart melting. He was such a sweet boy. The next word that was spoken by Oscar, set her world on its head.

“Mama.” he had uttered, before falling soundly asleep. She stiffened, he had… did he really… he had just called her mama. Mama. Mama. If Oscar wasn’t already settled into her heart, then he certainly was now. She leveled him with a soft, loving look and nuzzled his cheek. She was his mama now, and she would protect her cub with all her might. No matter what. 

Salem curled protectively around her cub, and watched the others putter around. They made plans to leave in the morning after the storm and try to get to Argus. Salem was the first one asleep, aside from Oscar. The next morning she woke up before any of the others, she blinked blearily getting up, stretching and yawning. Her attention was grabbed by tiny whimpers coming from nearby, she looked first at Oscar but he was still sleeping soundly. Looking to the others she saw the whimpers were coming from Ruby, she had a pained look on her face and was twitching in her sleep. Salem yawned and walked over to her, gently rubbing her cheek against the girl's forehead. This one had always been kind to Oscar, and even gave him his cane back. Salem didn’t really mind her so much, she didn’t quite deserve any of this either. Ruby let out a shuddering sigh but seemed to relax at the gentle touch and turned a bit towards Salem. 

Once Salem was sure Ruby was calmed she returned to Oscar’s side, he was quick to snuggle up to her belly and she smiled. She was just falling back asleep when Ruby woke up, Salem kept her eyes partly shut but watched as Ruby walked out of the living room and to a still sleeping Qrow. 

“Uncle Qrow…” she said tiredly, “We gotta go, we overslept.” 

That’s right, they were supposed to leave at sunrise, a quick look out the window told her that it was well past that. She supposed it was time to wake up properly. Oh well.

“Oscar.” she said quietly, nuzzling his head and gently nudging him. “It’s time to get up.”

He let out a heart breaking whine, “Nooo, I’m comfy.” 

She was nearly tempted to allow him to sleep a bit longer, but the sudden breaking of glass shocked both of them to wakefulness. They snapped their heads to where Ruby and Qrow were and watched as they had a brief conversation and Ruby hugged her uncle. Salem took this chance to stand up and stretch once more, she yawned and bent down to nudge Oscar with her nose.

“Come on little cub, get up. The sooner we leave the better.” she said, nuzzling the top of his head.

He whined again and flopped his tails over his eyes, Salem rolled her eyes with a smile. “Nope, never getting up. I’m gonna sleep forever.” he grumbled.

Salem grew mildly concerned at the statement and nudged him further with her nose. “I wouldn’t recommend that, but if you wish you can sleep when we leave alright? Just get up for now.”

He whined and growled but moved his tails and yawned. Standing up he was unsteady and Salem had to keep him from falling with his first few steps. Her concern grew, sure being a bit tired was normal after everything he’s been through, but this seemed… a bit much. 

“Are you… feeling alright Oscar?” she asked worriedly.

He nodded lethargically, “Yeah, I’m just really tired.”

She hummed but let it go, maybe he would feel better once he woke up a bit more. The others slowly roused themselves, each seemed lethargic and tired. Salem could feel something nagging in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite put a pin on what it was. She also found herself more tired than usual as well, but she felt that it may not be as bad. At least she felt mostly awake, the others looked dead on their feet. 

As Ruby and Qrow brought out a short flatbed trailer from one of the sheds, Salem felt the nagging in her mind grow stronger. Everyone was tired and lethargic, more so than would be considered normal. But why did that have her so on edge? Why was she so worried? And why did it feel like she was forgetting something? Something important.

“You guys got the bike ready?” Ruby asked Yang, prompting a grunt and a wave of a hand from her elder sister.

“Well it’s done now, so let’s hook this thing up and-” Qrow was cut off when he put his foot on the flatbed and the tire popped. He growled in frustration and went around to check the damage.

“You people are just beacons for bad luck aren’t you?” Maria asked, making Qrow growl again and walk over to a fence nearby. He plopped himself down in the snow and took out his flask, taking a swig.

Yang too sat down in front of the well, “I’m starting to think the universe just doesn’t want us getting to Atlas.”

“It’s just a flat tire. I’m sure there’s a spare.” Ruby said with a sigh. Well, at least one person is trying to keep positive out of this bunch.

“It’s not just that.” Yang grumbled, “”It’s everything. Storms, crashes, monsters.” she took a breath before continuing. “I’m so tired.”

“Me too.” Blake agreed. “It feels like we’re always having to fight to get by.” Salem couldn’t help but agree. After all, she had been fighting longer than this world had existed.

“Yeah, but that’s what we signed up for.” Ruby said. She truly was remarkable, still keeping positive and holding onto her sense of duty even after everything she’s been through.

“We signed up to try and save the world.” Weiss stated, “Not to just, delay the inevitable. I mean last night I just couldn't stop thinking. Why are we even going to Atlas?” 

There was a silence that followed the question. No one seemed able, or even willing, to answer that question. These children didn’t deserve this burden on their shoulders. Perhaps it was best for them to simply forget this all, and walk away. Perhaps she could simply take her half asleep cub and go, there was nothing for her here. She was only staying for him. She held no care for these people, and… where was all of this coming from? When had she become so callous? 

“Weiss, we have to.” Ruby finally said, a steady resolution in her voice.

“Why?” Yang stated plainly. “Ozpin hid the relics behind giant doors under enormous schools. But, how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?”

Well about two seconds given the circumstances. 

Ruby looked unsure “But… The Grimm might-” 

“They’d find it eventually sure,” Yang wearily stated. “but just bury it or throw it down a well, it would take years.” 

It really wouldn’t. 

“They might not ever have it in our lifetime.” the girl didn’t know how wrong she was, but Salem was in no place to argue with her. “But we could be done with it now.”

Ruby took the lamp off her belt and looked at it as her teammates gathered around her, each with a dull, expressionless face. She walked slowly towards the well, “I am... really... tired.” She held the lamp above the well and Salem almost wanted to stop her, but she made no move towards the girl. Ruby’s hand shook as she held the lamp over the well, but let out a breath and seemed to change her mind before she looked down once more and yelled in shock, dropping the lamp in the process. “Oh no!” she gasped. “Nono NO! I didn’t mean to!” 

“Ruby, it’s ok.” Weiss said in a facsimile of comfort towards the girl.

“NO!” Ruby shouted back, “NO there’s something down there! I saw it! It was looking at me!”

Yang walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, it’s ok. You just said you’re tired. It was probably nothing. Now let’s go.”

Ruby quickly turned and smacked Yang's hand off her, “What’s the matter with you!? We can’t just leave! We have to go down there! We have to get the lamp back! Oh what was I thinking?!”

“All we have to do is fix this trailer.” Qrow finally piped in, “Hey farm… fox. Turn back and check the shed for a spare.” 

Oscar whined and Salem growled, but he complied and changed back to his human form, plodding off to the shed with Salem in tow.

They both paused however when Ruby yelled, “I’M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT THE LAMP!”

Blake sighed, “I’ll go down with you.”

“We’ll go down together.” Weiss said with a clear whine in her voice.

“Fine.” Qrow said sarcastically, “Get the stupid lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire.”

“Where are you going?” Maria asked as Qrow walked by her.

“Where do you think?” he said, shaking his flask at her.

She tutted, “Stupid.” Salem couldn’t help but to agree.

The girls each jumped down the well as Oscar and Salem went to the shed, leaving Maria behind with a book Salem remembers seeing in the house. As they looked through the shed Salem couldn’t help the frustration growing inside her. She knew there was something she was missing, there was something more to all of this, she knew it. Everyone was too tired, too blank, it was too coincidental, but she couldn’t figure out why. It was driving her crazy.

“Ya know, I didn’t really notice before,” Oscar said as he sifted through the shed, “but we haven’t seen a single Grimm since we got here. I mean, there were a lot of negative emotions going on, you’d think at least a few would show up.”

That’s when it clicked. Their tired states, their blank stares, and the fact that she couldn’t sense any of her Grimm nearby. This wasn’t standard over tiredness. This was Apathy, and the girls were in danger. Faster than one could blink she was out of the shed and running towards the well, as she got there she saw Maria already climbing in. They locked eyes and once Salem was close enough she bowed to Maria, offering her a ride. If they were to help the girls they needed to be fast about it.

“You know, don’t you.” Maria said, not as a question, but as a statement. Salem growled and nodded her head to her back, beckoning Maria to get on. Maria nodded back and quickly hopped aboard, and Salem leapt down into the well. She ran, using her night vision and enhanced sense of smell to find the girls. When her and Maria found them the Apathy had already begun to advance on them. Salem let out a loud roar, shocking the girls out of the Apathy’s influence.

“Run!” Maria called out, “Now!”

“Go! Go!” Ruby cried, her and the other girls following quickly after Salem and Maria.

As they ran back to where the well was they found it was too late, as more Apathy had already shown up and were blocking their way out. The elder Grimm screamed and it sent the girls to their knees, Salem was only just able to stay upright and snarl at the Grimm. It just had to be Apathy. They had been around far longer than her, and were among a select few Grimm that couldn’t be controlled, freely created, or sensed by her. Even other Grimm left them be, as Apathy weren’t as… picky as most Grimm with their food. They could and would feed on humans, animals, and other Grimm, though Grimm weren’t quite as affected by them as other living beings were. 

“This way!” Ruby called out, gesturing to a large hole in the wall. The group quickly followed, running through the dank tunnels, taking turn after twisting turn, each route only leading to more Apathy. They must have stumbled onto a full nest of them. Eventually they found themselves in a room, one filled with Apathy, and no way out. The Grimm screeched, sending them all down to the floor, even Salem. She couldn’t fight off this many Apathy, it wasn’t possible, she should just give up, it didn’t matter anyways. 

“I can’t do this. I can’t.” she heard Yang sluggishly call out before she collapsed.

Maria crawled forward, using her cane to aid her. “An exit. An exit.” she wearily called to the others.

Salem pulled herself up. They needed to get out, she had to help. She was the least affected, she had to fight so that they could escape. She had to try. Pulling on all her strength, Salem roared and lept at the Grimm, tearing and clawing at them to destroy as many as she could, praying that she could give them enough time to escape. 

A sudden call of “BLAKE!” and a flash of white hot light stunned Salem, sending her into agony. She roared in pain and writhed on the floor, as the Apathy around her became stunned. She faintly heard the others begin to move and Weiss yelling about how the doors were locked. Salem hauled herself to her feet despite her pain and hobbled as fast as she could to the door, but before she could bash them open the Apathy screeched again and sent her down. They were too close, she would not let them die here. She roared again, as loudly as she could before her exhaustion and pain finally overwhelmed her and she dropped to the floor. 

She isn’t really sure what happened next, but she does know that the door above them suddenly opened and she heard her cub's voice calling out to them.

“Guys? I heard Midnight, what’s going-” he was cut off by another scream from the Apathy. No! Not him! Not her cub! She couldn’t allow them to get him! But before she could react, a blur of silver sprang out and began ripping and tearing at the Grimm. Distracting them enough for the Grimms’ hold to fall off the others and allow them to run. She stood fast and joined the other beast in the fray, killing as many Grimm as she could sink her teeth and claws into. 

The girls ran out, Salem noticing that Ruby grabbed Oscar and pulled him along. Once the others were clear Salem roared and ran out herself, followed by her fighting companion. She was mildly surprised to find herself back in the house, but she didn’t waste time dwelling on the fact as she ran out and found the girls in the other room, dragging an angry and clearly very drunk Qrow along with them. She stood in front of them with her fighting companion at her side, both growling low and daring the Apathy to try and harm this group. Then she saw a bottle sail over her head and smash on the ground, she briefly looked back to see Weiss grabbing the alcohol from the shelves, much to Qrow’s chagrin, and throwing them at the Apathy. Once enough of the alcohol was thrown, she activated the fire dust in her weapon and set the liquid ablaze and the Apathy along with it. 

“Stop it!” Qrow drunkenly cried out, “What wrong with you! What’s-” he stopped short and as Salem briefly looked at him as she passed, she could see the shock and horror in his eyes. They ran out and climbed into the flatbed as Yang drove them away as fast as she could on her motorcycle.

Salem only allowed herself to relax once she could no longer see the burning house, and she settled herself on Oscar’s right, shielding him as best she could from the cold wind whipping around them. It was also then that she finally took notice of the one who had been fighting alongside her. Settled on Oscar’s left, was a large, silver, dire wolf. It was Ozpin. And Oscar seemed quite happy to see him, as he was hugging the wolf tight and burying his face into Ozpin's fur. Ozpin was gently nuzzling her boy’s face and, if Salem had to guess, apologizing to the boy a million times over. 

Maria also began to explain why the Apathy were there to begin with. Apparently Bartleby, the previous owner of the farm, wanted to cut costs with huntsman. So he grabbed two Apathy and brought them to his farm, a truly stupid idea if Salem had ever heard one. But she truly only half listened, she was too focused on her cub and Ozpin. Would Ozpin recognize her in this form? This version of her animal form was quite different compared to the one she had when she was with Ozma. Before, she had been white, with pale blonde and purple stripes. A far cry from the Grimm beast she was now. 

“So… are we gonna talk about the Goliath in the room?” Blake said, now drawing everyone’s attention.

Ruby sighed, “Yeah, Professor?”

Ozpin stiffened in Oscar’s hold, but he didn’t leave, nor did he look at the others, he simply stayed close to Oscar. Oscar himself, lifted his head and looked at the others, “He knows you're all mad. He’ll leave if you want him too, but he came back because… because we were in danger. He couldn’t bear to sit by and watch as the Apathy attacked.”

“Don’t go!” Ruby said quickly, “We-I don’t want you to leave again. Sir, I’m sorry for what I did. I’m still really really upset that you didn’t tell us the truth. But after some time to think it over, I think I kinda get why. I mean, that was pretty horrible stuff. I don’t think most people would be able to talk about that.”

Weiss spoke next, “And after what happened with Professor Lionheart, I can kinda guess why you wouldn’t tell people too. You don’t want them to lose hope, or worse stab you in the back.”

“I’m sorry too Professor.” Yang said, “I was so blinded by my own issues and I blindly trusted my sucky mother over you. I shouldn’t have been so harsh, and I’m really sorry.” 

Qrow sighed, “Kid, I’m sorry I punched you into a tree. That was a dick move, and you didn’t deserve it. I’m still pretty pissed at you though Oz.” 

Ozpin was now facing the group, shock clear in his eyes. Oscar spoke again, “He’s touched. And say’s thank you so much, but that he- yes you do.” Oscar broke off and looked at Ozpin, “You totally deserve an apology! They were jerks! No! I don’t care if you were a jerk first! You only kept those secrets because you knew what would happen if they found out! It’s called PTSD Ozpin! Yes, I do know what that is and it’s pretty obvious you have it!”

Ozpin huffed but seemed to concede as he nuzzled the side of Oscar’s face again. Oscar laughed a bit and pulled Ozpin closer to him, “I missed you.” he said, “I missed you a lot.”

Salem smiled at the sight, it was good to see Oscar happy again. But that was also when Ozpin finally took notice of her. She froze and just looked back at him like a deer in headlights, an ironic statement given her current form. 

Oscar pulled away from Ozpin and gave him a curious look before glancing at her and smiling, “Oh, her? She’s Midnight! She’s an animal Grimm hybrid and she’s been protecting me since you left. She was also the reason you kept finding me outside at night back at Haven. We were playing together.”

Ozpin looked at her for a moment before nodding, settling once more next to Oscar. Salem let out a breath and cuddled just a bit closer to Oscar. Looks like she’s here for the long haul, whether she liked it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	6. Welcome To Argus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oscar has been through a lot. at least he has his friends with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Chapter 6!! Stuff!!

Oscar was blindsided when Midnight suddenly ran out of the shed. He would have gone after her, but he was too tired and just kept sifting through the shed. Soon enough he found the spare and the materials he needed. Fixing the tire was easy enough, he’d done it at home a million times. The thought of home at his farm brought a pang of sorrow to Oscar. He missed it and Brother’s know how much he wished he could go home right now. He didn’t want to do this anymore. Oz was gone, he was far from home, and his only real friend right now of a grimm tiger lady. This current thought was depressing. 

Once the tire was done he returned inside to try and warm up a bit, maybe find where Midnight ran off too. After all, Oscar didn’t get to really explore the place yesterday. Midnight had kinda stopped him from going anywhere that wasn’t in arms, or paws, reach of her. He was honestly pretty grateful, he wasn’t sure what he would have done if she wasn’t around. After everything they learned, everything that happened, he really needed that kind of comfort. He wandered down to the basement, finding Qrow already two sheets to the wind at the bar. He sighed and was about to turn back when he heard an ear splittingly loud roar. It came from the other room, he rushed over to it and found a door, it was padlocked but with a swift strike with Long Memory the chains shattered. He quickly flung open the door, and was shocked to find Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Maria and Midnight there.

“Guys? I heard Midnight, what’s going-” he was cut off by a shriek from below. He felt his strength leave him and he fell to his knees. What was this? Why was he so tired all of a sudden? Who cared, he was tired, maybe he should take a nap.

A strong pull and a blur of silver caught his attention, and suddenly he gasped, his energy returning to him. Ruby helped him up and she pushed him out while she stayed behind with Weiss and Qrow. He hesitated only a moment before running out with Yang, Maria and Blake. The four of them quickly set up the flatbed to the motorcycle and tensely waited for the others. Oscar let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the others, but it caught half out of his throat at the sight of a familiar silver wolf next to Midnight. Was it really? Had he truly come back? 

He half paid attention to the burning house as they pulled away, he was mostly focused on Ozpin. He tentatively reached out and touched Ozpin’s familiar fur, letting out a shuddering breath when he made contact. He was real, Ozpin was really back. He didn’t realize how much he had missed the old man until now. 

*Oz?* he asked.

*Hi.* Oz replied quietly, almost sounding shy. *I-*

Oscar didn’t let him finish before throwing his arms around Ozpin's neck. He felt a few tears leave him, but if Oz noticed he didn’t say a word, simply nuzzled his face and huddled a little closer.

Ozpin finally spoke with a quiet apologetic voice, *I’m so sorry Oscar. I shouldn’t have left, I should have stayed. But I just-*

*Shut up.* Oscar cut him off. *I’m the one who should apologize. I never should have told them about Jinn. I didn’t know! And I’m so sorry I made you go through all of that! It was horrible and mean and I’m so sorry!* 

*Oh Oscar, you couldn’t have known. I never told you, or any of them. I know I should have but, it just hurts so much to think about, much less talk about. That’s not an excuse, but I hope you understand. And I hope you can forgive me.* Ozpin said, nuzzling that much closer to Oscar. 

They stayed like that for a bit, simply cuddling close on the flatbed and half listening to Maria talk about the Apathy and the farm. Eventually Blake spoke up and drew their attention back to the others.

“So… are we gonna talk about the Goliath in the room?” she asked, and Oscar caught her eye briefly.

Ruby sighed, “Yeah, Professor?”

Oscar felt Ozpin stiffen in his hold, but Oscar just held him a little tighter and looked at the group. *I’ll talk for you. Alright?*

*Tell them how I know they must still be mad at me. And that I’ll go back into your mind if they wish. Tell them that I came back because I saw they were in danger, and that I couldn’t bear to sit and watch as those beasts attacked.* Ozpin whispered into his mind. He didn’t want Ozpin to leave again, even if it was just to his mind. He much preferred having the man here, even if it was in the form of a wolf. 

“Don’t go!” Ruby was quick to say after Oscar relayed Ozpin’s words. “We-I don’t want you to leave again. Sir, I’m sorry for what I did. I’m still really really upset that you didn’t tell us the truth. But after some time to think it over, I think I kinda get why. I mean, that was pretty horrible stuff. I don’t think most people would be able to talk about that.” 

Oscar could feel the shock coming from Ozpin as the others apologized to him, minus Qrow who apologized to Oscar. *I-tell them I’m touched, and that I said thank you very much but that I don’t deserve-* 

Oscar was just not letting Oz get a word out today, was he? “Yes you do.” he said. “You totally deserve an apology! They were jerks!”

*Oscar, I was kind of a jerk first by keeping all of this from them.* Ozpin argued.

“No! I don’t care if you were a jerk first! You only kept those secrets because you knew what would happen if they found out! It’s called PTSD Ozpin!” Oscar countered.

*Do you even know what that is?* he shot back.

“Yes, I do know what that is and it’s pretty obvious you have it!” Oscar finished, giving Ozpin a slight glare. As if asking him to try and argue further.

Ozpin huffed, *Fine, you win this round Oscar.* he nuzzled the side of Oscar’s face. Oscar laughed a bit and pulled Ozpin closer to him, “I missed you.” he said, “I missed you a lot.”

*I missed you too Oscar.* he replied, relaxing into Oscar’s grip. And it was then he truly took notice of the other animal next to Oscar. A large black tiger with black and red stripes and red eyes. *Oscar who is this… tiger next to you?* he asked, pulling slightly away from Oscar to get a better look at the jungle cat.

Oscar looked at her and smiled, “Oh her? She’s Midnight! She’s an animal Grimm hybrid and she’s been protecting me since you left. She’s also the reason you kept finding me outside at night back at Haven. We were playing together.” 

Ozpin looked at her for a moment, *Well, I suppose that makes sense. I’ve seen a few Grimm and animal hybrids survive this long. Though it is quite rare.* he nodded and settled once more next to Oscar. The farm boy smiled as Midnight then cuddled closer to him, looks like he’s got a very snuggly trip coming up. 

Ozpin was pleasantly surprised by how his return had been taken, though he was more surprised to find out Oscar had been basically adopted by a Grimm tiger lady. But oh well. Regardless, he could feel the exhaustion coming from Oscar and he whines slightly, *Oscar, you should get some rest. You’ve been through a lot these past 2… ish, days.*

*Yeah… ok.* the young boy said while yawning. Oscar relaxed against Ozpin's side and before Oz could say “Sleep tight.” he was out like a light. Oz noticed the tiger, Midnight, lay her head on Oscar’s lap. Well this seemed as good a time to talk to her as any.

“So, Midnight. Why exactly are you doing all of this?” he asked bluntly. 

She looked at him curiously, “Doing all of what?”

“Protecting Oscar. Helping me fight the Apathy. And why were you playing with him back in Mistral?” he clarified.

“Ah, that. Well I was rather… interested in the human who could turn into a fox. He spotted me and initiated the play. I couldn’t find it in myself to deny him, thus our little ritual began. He was such a sweetheart.” she explained, Ozpin couldn’t help but sympathize. He truly was a force to be reckoned with when he leveled those puppy dog eyes on someone. Even Grimm hybrids it seemed. 

He huffed slightly, “Why stay though?” 

“I grew to care for him in our time together. I originally only followed to make sure he got to Argus safely, but I saw how poorly the others began treating him and decided to stay longer.” she said. Ozpin cringed a bit at that, they had only done all of that because of him. 

He fell silent after that, slipping into a light doze next to Oscar as the others spoke of Grimm Reapers and past fights. It was the ringing of a scroll that pulled him from his half sleep, and seemed to pull Oscar out of his nap as well. They all looked at Ruby as she pulled out her scroll and gasped.

“It’s Jaune!” she smiled, answering the call and putting him on speaker while Yang stopped the bike. “Hello?”

They could all hear when Jaune answered. “Ruby! Oho! Thank you! I’ve been checking my scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!”

“The city?” Ruby said questioningly, “Wait.” she held up her scroll and the signal grew just a bit stronger when she pointed it ahead. Everyone looked forward and Yang started the bike up again, driving them closer to the signal's origin. She stopped at the top of a hill and took a moment to look over the city.

She turned to them all smiling, “Ladies and gentlemen. We have arrived in Argus.”

There was a sense of relief that washed over the group, they were one step closer to Atlas. Though this posed a new problem for them all.

“Wait. What are we gonna do with Midnight? She’s a GrimmTiger! People would freak out if they saw her!” Oscar said, and Ozpin could feel the boys concern and fear wash over him. 

“Well we could leave her here.” Qrow suggested, “She can clearly take care of herself, so she should be fine.” 

“But-” Oscar started to protest.

*It’s alright Oscar. She can handle herself, and I have a feeling she’ll stick around for awhile.* Ozpin said, gently nuzzling Oscar’s face.

Oscar looked at him worriedly, and then looked at Midnight before turning into his fox form and cuddling to her side. 

“I’m sorry!” Oscar cried, “I wanna bring you! But you’ll scare everyone! I’m sorry!”

“Hush little cub.” she soothed nuzzling the top of his head, “There is no need to apologize, I know I’m rather… frightening to most. But I’ll stay by the forest, just call for me when you want to see me.” 

Oscar nuzzled against her but nodded and changed back to his human form. He threw his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll see you soon Midnight. I promise.”

She nuzzled gently into his belly, making him giggle and push her head away. Ozpin licked the side of his face and cuddled close to him as Midnight stood, stretched, and hopped out of the flatbed. Oscar leaned over the side and rubbed the top of her head, she moved up and licked the side of his face before turning and running into the forest. 

*I’m gonna miss her.* Oscar said, watching Midnight’s retreating form sadly.

Ozpin nuzzled his cheek gently, *It will be alright, you’ll see her again soon enough.*

“Alright. New problem.” Qrow said, drawing everyone's attention. “Oz. You’re a giant wolf, people are gonna freak out. You might wanna… I don’t know, tone it down a bit?”

“He’s got a point Oz, you are a bit intimidating. At least to people who haven’t seen you begging for belly rubs and giving puppy dog eyes.” Oscar said with a little smirk.

*Oh hush.* Ozpin said, nuzzling against Oscar's neck, making the boy giggle and cringe away. *I suppose you do have a point though, here let me change that.* 

With a quick flourish of magic Ozpin changed his form from a large dire wolf into a moderately sized Samoyed. He shook himself briefly and looked at Oscar, *Better?*

Oscar looked at him with stars in his eyes, “You’re so fluffy. Nora’s gonna flip.” 

Ruby laughed and scratched under Ozpin’s chin, “It’s perfect, ready Yang?”

“You got it!” Yang called back with a thumbs up, before revving her bike and heading carefully down to Argus.

Upon entering the gates of the city they quickly rented a storage unit for the bike and Ruby called Jaune to tell him where they were. Ozpin calmly sat next Oscar, people would look at him and coo or wave, a few asked to pet him which he happily allowed. 

The call of, “CUTE BOY OOOOZ!” was all the warning Oscar got before Nora tackled him to the ground. 

Ozpin winced a bit and sniffed at where they landed, *Are you alright Oscar?*

Oscar groaned but gave him a weak thumbs up as Nora got off him, allowing him to sit up. “Hey,” Nora said, “Who’s the old lady? And the super fluffy puppy?”

Oscar rubbed his head and chuckled, “That’s Maria, the dog is Ozpin. We didn’t think it was a good idea for a giant wolf to wander around the city.”

“Wait!” Nora cried, “That’s Oz? Oh my gosh! He’s so fluffy!” 

He managed to keep his footing when Nora threw her arms around him, he smiled and cuddled further into the hug. *Oscar could you tell Miss.Valkerie I’m happy to see her?”

“Oz says he’s happy to see you. And that he would love some Nora patented belly rubs.” Oscar said with a wide mischievous grin.

Nora gasped, “Of course! Come on Oz! Roll over!”

Ozpin glared at Oscar as Nora rolled him onto his back and began vigorously rubbing his belly. Oscar laughed and got up to greet the other’s, leaving Ozpin to his fate. 

Eventually Ozpin was freed from his belly rubs, not that he was complaining over receiving them, and he was able to greet Ren and Jaune. Both of whom were far less… enthusiastic about their hello’s, simply rubbing the top of Ozpin’s head and scratching behind his ears. 

They all rode on a trolly car to get to wherever Jaune and the others had been staying. Something he and Oscar had greatly enjoyed. Jaune’s sister's home was a bit crowded with all of them in there, but Ozpin wasn’t bothered. Mostly because there was an adorable baby there and Ozpin was currently a very happy dog. He always did have a soft spot for young children. Must be why he liked Oscar and Ruby so much. He was currently laying on the floor with Yang and Weiss as the two girls played with Adrien. 

“I can’t believe I’m meeting your sister!” Ruby exalted, “I have so many questions!”

“Oh, I can give you the rundown later.” Nora replied in a teasing tone.

“Will you guys knock it off!” Jaune cried out exasperatedly.

“What?” Saffron chuckled, “I love telling stories about my baby brother!”

Jaune growled and waved Saffron's hand away from his face, “I am not a baby!” he shouted, “That.” he pointed at Adrian, “Is a baby!” 

Adrian crossed his arms and pouted, making Weiss, Yang, and Ozpin coo and gush about how cute he was. Though Oscar was the only one who could hear Ozpin in that regard.

*Why can’t you be this cute?* Ozpin teased, glancing at Oscar from his place on the floor.

*Why can’t you?* he shot back with a smirk.

Ozpin huffed and turned his attention back to the baby, *WhY CAn’t You? He says. Teenagers these days. Honestly.*

Oscar put a hand to his mouth to muffle his giggles, Ozpin smiled a bit and thumped his tail on the ground.

“I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis!” was what drew Ozpin back into the conversation around him. 

“I-uh-ugh.” Jaune replied, clearly she was right.

“Aww! You didn’t deny it!” Saffron sing-songed, as Jaune pushed her face away from him prompting a mini play fight between the siblings. It was quickly brought to an end though when the front door opened and closed.

“Everyone, this is my wife Terra Cotta!” Saffron introduced her and everyone greeted her in return.

“Well hello there! Wow quite a party you weren’t kidding. Hon could I get some help please?” Terra asked, prompting her wife to trot off and help her. Once the groceries were put away, team JNR got up to make sandwiches for the group, Oscar went to join them and his seat was quickly snatched up by Qrow. When JNR sent him back with the others Oscar sat on the floor next to Yang and Ozpin was quick to place his head on the boy's lap, silently asking for pets. Oscar laughed softly and pet down his back, making Ozpin’s tail thump happily on the ground.

“You’re sure it’s alright if we stay here?” Weiss asked once everyone was settled.

“Of course!” Saffron laughed, “We’re happy to house huntsmen and huntresses!”

“You all risk so much to keep people like us safe.” Terra chimed in, “it’s the least we can do. Especially for such an elite huntsman like yourself.” she was now turned towards Qrow. “Although I will say, I was surprised to find to learn you had students helping you. Is that even… legal?” 

Ruby elbowed Qrows side to gain his attention, “Uhh, oh course! Think of it as an extended training mission. Trust me, I was a professor, even went to the same academy as them. And let me tell ya, these kids are way better than we were at their age.” he chuckled, “Well not better than me, specifically. But a lot of students-”

Ruby cut him off with, “Shut up there’s food!” and practically shoved a sandwich at him.

Oscar handed a sandwich to Ozpin before taking one for himself. Ozpin quickly wolfed down the food and settled back onto Oscar’s lap.

“So… your dog.” Terra started, “What kind is he? He’s very well mannered.”

Ozpin’s tail thumped at the compliment and he looked at Oscar, *She thinks I’m well mannered. What do you say to that Oscar?*

“He’s a samoyed, and don’t let his chill fool you, he’s one of the most over dramatic, loud, annoying-ACK!” Oscar was cut off by Ozpin jumping on top of him and licking all over his face.

*How’s this for over dramatic, loud, and annoying!* Ozpin said, unrelenting in his playful attack.

Oscar laughed and tried to push Ozpin’s face away from him, “Someone help me! He’s gone crazy!”

The group just laughed before Terra’s scroll buzzed and she sighed, “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.” 

Ozpin got off Oscar, allowing the boy’s giggles to fade as they watched Terra leave to answer her scroll.

“Is everything ok?” Blake asked inquisitively.

“Oh yeah, it will be. Terra’s a technician for the town’s relay tower, unfortunately the military's radar system is also housed there.” she turned to Adrian and spoke in a baby voice, “Guess what's been on the fritz lately and who’s getting falsely blamed?” 

“Me.” Ozpin heard Terra whisper behind him.

“So, what’s your plan for tomorrow?” Saffron asked, turning to Ruby who appeared to be swallowing sandwiches whole.

“Well,” she said before swallowing her mouthful, “We’re trying to make our way to Atlas. We’ll probably start with the military base.”

Ozpin noticed the shift in team JNR’s mood, “So…” Jaune began, “we kind of already tried that, and it didn’t go… super great.”

“Come on,” Yang chuckled, “it couldn’t be that bad.”

*Yang, you have just doomed us all.* Ozpin thought with a deadpan tone.

“Well we gotta try anyway.” Ruby said resolutely. “But that can wait till tomorrow. Today, let’s just relax.”

“I agree with Ruby.” Oscar said, “I’m way too tired to deal with the military right now.”

Yang glared, “No. Let’s go check this out right now. I wanna see how bad this is.”

Ruby sighed, “Fine. Oscar, and whoever else doesn’t feel up to coming, you can stay here if you want. But everyone else, you come with me.”

*Are you sure you don’t want to go Oscar?* Ozpin asked, looking curiously at Oscar.

*Yeah, I’d like to relax for a bit longer. You can go if you want though, you're a strong independent dog who don’t need no human.* Oscar shot back teasingly.

*I’d rather stay with you. I’ve seen enough of the Atlas military to know where this is gonna go.* Ozpin replied with a huff.

*Suit yourself.* Oscar shrugged, absentmindedly scratching behind Ozpin’s ear.

As the others left for the base Oscar decided to head outside for some fresh air with Ozpin. 

“So Oz. What do we do now?” Oscar asked, settling himself on the porch.

*Well if worse comes to worse we can send a letter to James, or Qrow or I could turn into a bird and bring him here, or I could sneak into a Manta with a note for James. We have a lot of options should they turn us away.* Ozpin replied. *But let’s worry about that later. Why don’t we have some fun? It feels like forever since it was just you and I.* 

“I guess it has been a while. What did you have in mind?” Oscar smiled, already knowing what Ozpin meant.

*Come and have a go, if you think you’re hard enough!* Ozpin challenged, bowing down with his tail wagging happily in the air.

“You asked for it!” Oscar laughed, getting up and jumping at Ozpin, who quickly dodged. 

They chased and wrestled with each other around the small yard, both laughing and over all having a wonderful time together. 

“You get back here you fluffy menace!” Oscar giggled 

*Make me!* he called back.

“Fine! I will!” Oscar shot back before tackling Oz to the ground and vigorously rubbing his belly. “Muahaha! Take that you stupid cloud dog!”

*Cloud dog? Oh you will pay for that!* Ozpin laughed before rolling out of Oscar’s grip and shifting into a ferret. *I don’t need to be big to stop you! Have at thee!* with that he shot forward and wiggled his way under Oscar’s shirt.

“OZ NOHOHO! AH! HAHAH! STOP IHIHIT! THAT TICKLES! HAHAHA!” Oscar howled.

*That’s the point! Now please, stop wiggling about so much so that I may teach you a lesson!* Ozpin teased.

OHAHAZ! HAHAHA! COME ON! PLEHEHEASE!” Oscar shrieked.

*Please what Oscar?* Ozpin said mockingly, *Please keep tickling you? Cause I can do that!*

“NOOOO! HAHAHAHA! OZPIN! AAAAHHH! NO! DOHOHOHON’T! HAHA! STOP IT!” Oscar laughed, kicking his legs and clutching his stomach.

*Don’t stop it? Well if you insist!* Ozpin taunted, wriggling against Oscar’s belly faster, drawing further giggles from the boy. 

Oscar squealed, “OHAHAHAZ! S-SOMEONES-SOMEONES GONAHAHA HEHEHEHEAR! AAAHHHAHAHA!” 

Ozpin did eventually stop his tickly attack, opting instead to drape himself around the boy's neck. He nuzzled Oscar’s cheek while he recovered on the ground, residual giggles bubbling past his lips.

“You-you are evil.” Oscar panted, reaching up to scratch under Ozpin’s chin.

*I can and will destroy you child.* Ozpin replied, nuzzling the underside of Oscar’s chin.

Oscar giggled and rubbed Ozpin’s cheek with his knuckle, “Yeah yeah, I know. Now turn back into a cloud dog before Terra or Saffron see.”

*Stop calling me a cloud dog.* Ozpin said before flopping onto Oscar lap and turning back into a samoyed.

“Oof! I didn’t mean on *me*, you jerk!” Oscar laughed, shoving Ozpin off his lap. 

Ozpin leapt back up and began furiously nuzzling and licking Oscar who fell onto his back giggling. Eventually Ozpin just flopped on top of Oscar who began playing with his ears and cheeks.

“You think the others will be back soon?” the boy asked absentmindedly.

*I would think so.* Ozpin replied, closing his eyes and relaxing against Oscar.

Oscar was about to say something else when a click stole his attention. He looked up to find Saffron standing there with a wide grin on her face.

“Hi! I just saw you and thought the others might want some proof of the adorableness.” she giggled. “Also Jaune texted, they're on their way back, but me and Terra have some errands to run so you kids will have the house to yourselves. Don’t do anything crazy!”

“Yes ma’am!” Oscar sighed with a laugh.

*Guess we should head inside.* Ozpin huffed, rolling off Oscar and laying on his back next to him.

Oscar sat up and gave Ozpin a quick belly rub before getting up to head inside, “Come on Oz! Let’s wait for the others!”

*I’ll only come inside if you promise more belly rubs.* Ozpin replied, rolling onto his stomach.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll give you belly rubs you needy baby.” Oscar giggled before dashing inside.

Ozpin growled playfully and chased the boy inside, *I’ll show you a needy baby!*

As he got inside Terra, Saffron, and Adrian were just leaving, Saffron turned around and smiled at them. “Don’t have too much fun you two!”

“Alright! Have fun!” Oscar called pushing Ozpin away from him with each word.

Once the three were out of the house Ozpin growled playfully and leapt at Oscar, knocking the boy over and wiggling down to nose at his belly. Oscar burst into loud laughter and tried to push Ozpin off, to no avail. 

*Say your sorry for calling me a needy baby!* Ozpin said, maneuvering himself so his tail could brush at Oscar’s ribs.

Oscar squealed, “OK! OKAHAHAY! I’M SORRYHEHE! I’M SORRY I CALLED YOU AHAHA I’M SORRY I CALLED YOHOHOU A NEEHEHEDY BABY! STHAHAHP!”

*I guess I can forgive you. After some more tickles!* Ozpin laughed nosing and nuzzling Oscar’s tummy into oblivion, making Oscar shriek and giggle uproariously. 

Their fun was only brought to an end by the door banging open and Nora gasping, “Oh my gosh! Quick! Ren help me save Oscar from this vicious beast!”

Ozpin swiftly jumped off Oscar and bowed in front of the others, “Try it!” he barked, his tail wagging up a small breeze. 

Nora laughed and lunged at him, initiating a small wrestling between the two. Jaune and Ren laughed a bit, but when Oscar looked at Ruby and the others he was surprised to find they looked… upset?

“Hey, Ruby. Everything alright?” he questioned, standing up and fixing her with a concerned stare.

“I… we, have some stuff to talk about.” she replied joylessly.

He looked at her confused for a moment before it suddenly clicked, “Oh… yeah. We uh, we do don’t we?” This was not gonna be fun…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	7. Difficult Reveals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the others to learn about Salem. Hows it gonna go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 7! Hooray!

Ozpin wiped his eyes as Jaune punched the wall in anger, it still hurt so much to relive. Even after hundreds of years and hundreds of lives, it still hurt him so much to think about.

*You ok?* Oscar asked gently.

*I’ll live.* Ozpin responded, sniffling a bit as Weiss put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her confused, but she just gave him a comforting smile and squeezed his shoulder.

“Jaune!” Ruby said angrily.

Jaune growled, “Everything we did was for NOTHING!” 

“That’s not true.” Blake said.

“Really? Cause it sure does sound like it.” Nora chimed in, sounding like she was on the verge of tears herself.

*Oz…* Oscar began

*It’s fine Oscar. This is what I’m accustomed to. And hey! None of them have punched me yet! So that’s a plus.* he weakly joked, though it sounded less like it was for Oscar and more like it was for him.

Oscar sighed, *That’s not funny Oz.*

Ozpin sniffled again and swiped at his eyes, *I know.*

Jaune’s exasperated, “Wow, great plan everyone!” pulled them back into the conversation.

Ozpin sighed, “Mr.Arc I-”

“NO!” Jaune shouted, his fist meeting the wall again, “YOU DON’T GET TO TALK!”

“Jaune, calm down!” Ruby cried, “He’s-”

“HE’S THE REASON PYRRHA IS DEAD!” Jaune cut her off, sending the room back into silence.

“Mr.Arc…” Ozpin tired, taking a step forward.

“HOW DO WE EVEN KNOW WE CAN TRUST YOU! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A LIAR!” Jaune yelled, moving quickly towards Ozpin, a blazing fury in his eyes. 

Ozpin felt Oscar’s sudden fear, an image of a man stalking towards him in the night flashing through his mind. Oscar, in his sudden fear, snapped into his fox form and Ozpin reacted without thinking, giving control back to Oscar and stood over his charge as a dire wolf, baring his teeth at the older boy. He growled low and deep, his hackles raised and the need to protect his cub overtaking his mind. He would not let Oscar be harmed in his stead again, if Jaune wanted to hurt him then fine. But he wasn’t laying a finger on Oscar. 

“EVERYONE STOP!” Ruby shouted, breaking Oz out of his stupor and seeming to do the same to Jaune. 

Jaune looked at Ozpin, then at Oscar, and he looked away almost guiltily. He pushed past the two and stomped upstairs, slamming the upstairs door behind him. 

“Is he… gonna be ok?” Yang finally asked.

“I don’t know!” Nora replied angrily before getting up and following Jaune upstairs.

Ren spoke next, his voice a forced calm, “I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves.” and he followed his teammates up the stairs.

“Maybe we could all use some space.” Blake said once they were gone.

*Oscar? Are you alright? I’m… sorry you had to deal with all of that.* Ozpin asked, turning to Oscar with a concerned whine. 

Oscar shifted back to his human form and let out a shaky breath, putting his arms around Ozpin’s neck and hugging him close. “I’m ok. Just… not so great memories. You get it. Are you ok?*

Ozpin nuzzled Oscar gently, *I’ll be fine.* 

*Oz, I think I wanna check on Midnight. Could we go see her?* Oscar asked, hugging Ozpin a little tighter.

Ozpin whined slightly, *Of course we can my dear. I think it would be best if we got some fresh air anyways.* 

Oscar let go of the dire wolf and scrubbed at his eyes, allowing Ozpin to move forward and lick his cheeks. Oscar managed a small smile and rubbed Ozpin’s head, *Let’s go.*

With that the pair silently slipped out of the house, once Ozpin had shifted back into his samoyed form, and headed for the forest. The walk through the city was mostly quiet, there wasn’t much to say between the two anyways. The moment they left the city limits though Ozpin shifted back into a dire wolf and Oscar shifted to his fox kit form. 

“Midnight!” Oscar called, darting forward, “Midnight are you still here?”

Ozpin trotted next to Oscar as they delved deeper into the forest in search of the Grimm Tigress. “Maybe she’s a little further away? She might have wanted to stay away from the city.”

“Midnight!” Oscar cried, ignoring Ozpin entirely. 

Ozpin was about to say something else when a sudden blur of black shot out from the bushes. He yipped and was about to defend Oscar, but the sound of Oscar’s laughter gave him pause. Before him was Midnight, nuzzling and cuddling Oscar close. 

“Did you miss me already Oscar?” she laughed, “It’s only been a few hours!”

Oscar wiggled his way out of Midnight's grip and bowed playfully at her, “I didn’t miss you! I thought you missed me!”

“I did miss you!” she replied gently, batting a paw at Oscar, who jumped at it, growling and kicking playfully. “But what truly brings you both here?”

Ozpin sighed, “We had a bit of a… falling out, with our group. They just need some time to process everything.”

Midnight tilted her head, “Very well, I hope the both of you are alright though.”

“We’ll be alright. We just needed some fresh air.” Ozpin said, gently pulling Oscar closer to him with his paw. 

Oscar sighed, “They were really mad at us.”

“Not us Oscar.” Ozpin corrected nosing the top of Oscar’s head, “Just me. I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”

Oscar tilted his head up and booped his nose against Ozpin’s. “It’s ok Oz. You don’t have to apologize, I could have stayed home anyways. I chose this, and I’ll keep choosing it.”

Ozpin felt a swell of pride fill his chest and he couldn’t help but lick all over Oscar’s face, making Oscar laugh and fall onto his back. Ozpin nosed his belly, drawing further giggles from the little fox.

“Come now Ozpin, let the poor cub live.” Midnight chuckled.

Ozpin rolled his eyes but pulled back, allowing Oscar to roll onto his stomach and dart off to Midnight. He huddled in between her paws and stuck his tongue out at Ozpin.

Ozpin gasped, “You would dare! Midnight, return that cub to me! He is in need of a lesson in manners!”

“He is but a child, I say allow him some reprieve.” she responded, standing above the cub protectively.

Ozpin smiled and bowed at her, “Do you challenge me?”

“For Oscar? I would challenge the Brother’s themselves.” she responded, standing with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

*Oscar you may want to move. The grown ups are gonna play now.* he warned Oscar with a grin. Oscar nodded and trotted a few feet away, watching the two with wagging tails.

Ozpin quickly lunged at Midnight, who allowed herself to be brought back by his tackle. The two rolled around in the snow, wrestling and jumping at each other happily. Ozpin eventually pinned Midnight to the ground. He laughed in victory and gave her a grin.

“Well that was fun.” he teased, “We should do this more often.”

She smiled right back, “I agree.” Then without warning, Midnight pushed him over with her front paws and quickly pinned him to the ground. 

Oscar giggled, “Hey Midnight! Did you know Oz was ticklish?”

She smirked down at Oz, “Is that so? Well, let’s see just how ticklish you are.”

Ozpin tried to wiggle away but burst into wolfy giggles when the tigress began nuzzling in the spot where his front legs met his torso. Midnight chuckled and brought her tail around to tickle at his stomach, drawing further laughter from the dire wolf.

Oscar laughed, “How do you like it old man?” 

At the call from Oscar, Midnight suddenly stopped her tickle barrage. “Is that any way to speak to your elders young cub?”

Ozpin caught his breath and sent a look to Midnight, “Let’s say we teach him a lesson.”

“Agreed.” she grinned, getting off Ozpin and giving Oscar an evil look.

Oscar gulped and quickly took off, “You’ll never take me alive!”

“Get him!” Ozpin called, taking off after the kit.

The two chased after their cub, who was giving them quite the challenge. He was surprisingly fast, and definitely more agile than them. He seemed to truly evade them when he darted under the roots of a nearby tree.

“Ha! Try and get me now!” Oscar taunted.

“You forget, little one.” Ozpin said, shifting into a silver fox, “You’re not the only one who can change form.”

Before Oscar could escape again Ozpin darted under the tree and dragged him out by his scruff. Ozpin then quickly shifted back into his default form and pinned Oscar on his back.

“Are you ready for your lesson, Oscar?” Ozpin said smugly.

Oscar gave him pleading puppy dog eyes, but before Oz could crumble at their cuteness Midnight nuzzled Oscar’s side and made him burst out with little foxy giggles. 

“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me?” Midnight asked playfully.

“Yes ma’am!” Ozpin chirped, moving down to tickle Oscar in the same spot Midnight had tickled him.

Oscar was wiggling and laughing under the pair, his tails wagging a mile a minute. Ozpin maneuvered his own tail to brush at Oscar’s back paws, making Oscar’s laughter grow by an octave. 

The pair tickled the poor little fox for a few minutes longer before he finally shifted back into his human form. They decided to stop their tickling and simply cuddle up to him as his giggles died down.

“Remind me never to challenge you two to a tickle fight.” Oscar breathed, a wide smile on his face.

“No promises.” Ozpin replied, playfully nuzzling Oscar’s neck to make the boy giggle.

They all were soon relaxing in the forest, cuddled together and simply enjoying the moment. Midnight was the first to break the silence, though she seemed hesitant.

“Oscar, I have a question for you.” she said softly, “You don’t have to answer it, but it’s been on my mind for some time.”

“Shoot.” Oscar replied, tilting his head to look at the tigress.

She hesitated a moment before continuing, “Where are your parents? I mean, you’re a young child all alone with a group of relative strangers. Why aren’t they with you?”

Ozpin felt a wave of sudden sorrow and longing hit the boy and he whined, cuddling closer to his young charge.

“I… don’t have any parents. They were killed when I was young. A man killed them in their sleep, he broke my leg, and set our house on fire. I survived by pure chance.” Oscar explained softly. “I’ve been living with my aunt in Misteral ever since. I mean, till recently that is.” Oscar gave a small smile to Ozpin and scratched his muzzle, “He’s the reason I left home. He called me to be something greater than myself. I was pretty hesitant at first, but we’ve bonded a lot since then.”

Ozpin lifted his head and looked Oscar in the eyes, “Oscar, I am so proud of the person you have become. And I’m so happy to have met you, even if it was under less than ideal circumstances.”

“I too am happy to have met you Oscar.” Midnight chimed in, “I have been… rather lonely in my life. But you have brought such a light to my dark world, and I cannot thank you enough.”

Oscar chuckled softly and cuddled the two animals closer, “I love you guys.”

“We love you too Oscar.” Midnight replied, nuzzling his cheek.

“Very much.” Ozpin added, “I’m proud to be a part of your life.”

Oscar smiled and hugged them closer before suddenly stiffening and adopting a confused look, “Wait a second. How am I understanding you both right now? Oz you’re not talking in my head, and I’m not in my animal form. So what gives?”

“Oh, well sometimes magic can get muddled and attributes from your animal form can transfer to your human form. A love of shiny things, increased agility, or even the ability to speak to animals.” Ozpin explained cheerily.

“Oh… well ok then.” Oscar replied, “That makes sense. I think.”

“Try not to think about it too hard.” Midnight chuckled, “From what I can see, magic is really strange.”

“That it certainly is.” Ozpin laughed. “I’ve had more than my fair share of magic mishaps.”

“Oh really?” Oscar asked, a sly look on his face, “Do tell.”

“Well…” Ozpin began, suddenly looking sheepish.

“Well?” Oscar asked, his eyes shining with curiosity. 

Ozpin whined slightly, “It was a long time ago, back when I was with… her.”

Neither noticed when Midnight stiffened slightly, “What happened?” she asked.

Ozpin sighed and with a deadpan tone replied, “Bubbles.”

“Bubbles?” Oscar asked.

“Bubbles.” he repeated. “You see, it was a minor spell for our daughters, we were playing and I wanted to make them some bubbles. It… kind of backfired.”

Midnight smiled, “Backfired how?”

“The spell worked, I did make the bubbles. Unfortunately, they were coming out of my mouth. And they didn’t stop coming out for a week.” Ozpin chuckled.

Oscar laughed, “Seriously?”

“Yes seriously! Can you imagine? The closest thing the people back then had to an actual god, and he’s got multi-colored bubbles coming out of his mouth every time he spoke! I was mortified!” Ozpin cried, covering his face with his paws.

Oscar and Midnight laughed heartily at the poor wolf, before a breeze caused Oscar to noticeably shiver. “Wow, it is really cold out.”

Ozpin uncovered his face and hummed, “It’s going to be colder in Atlas. Maybe we should get you into something warmer.” 

“This is all I have though.” Oscar replied, gesturing to his clothes.

“Then you’ll have to go shopping won’t you.” Midnight said, “Go on. It’s starting to get dark anyway.”

Oscar looked at her and smiled, throwing his arms around her, “Thanks for making me feel better Midnight. I appreciate it.” 

“Anytime Oscar. If you ever need cheering up again just come find me and I’ll tickle all your blues away.” she replied, her tail brushing against his neck, making him giggle.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Oscar replied, playfully pushing her away and standing up, brushing the snow off his pants. “Come on bubbles, we’ve got shopping to do.”

“You will never let me live this down will you?” Ozpin grumbled, getting to his feet and shaking his fur off.

“Nope!” Oscar replied, popping the P.

Ozpin huffed, “Lovely.”

“Bye Midnight! I’ll see you later!” Oscar chirped, rubbing the top of the tigresses head before heading back to the city.

“Goodbye Midnight. It was fun, I hope we get to play again.” Ozpin smiled before trotting off to follow Oscar into the city. 

Before reaching the gates Ozpin shifted into a field mouse and scurried into Oscar’s pocket. *I don’t know if some of the shops here allow dogs. It’s best to play it safe.* he explained. 

Oscar gently pat his pocket and smiled as he re-entered the city. He wandered around for a bit, just walking through the city streets and idly chatting with Oz in his mind. Well kind of arguing right now.

*Hot chocolate is not a type of soup you ancient parasite!* Oscar argued to a laughing Ozpin. *Stop laughing!*

*Oscar I will die on this hill, you can’t change my mind!* Ozpin giggled, *Hot chocolate is a type of soup!*

*You’re just saying that because you want to justify not eating anything but hot chocolate!* Oscar fumed, glaring hard at the field mouse in his pocket.

Ozpin gasped dramatically, *That is not true in the slightest! How dare you!*

*Tell that to Glynda!* Oscar shot back before realizing what he just said. *Wait… who’s Glynda?*

Ozpin was quiet for a moment, *....an old friend of mine. She’s part of this inner circle with Qrow, James, Theodore, and the others.*

Oscar was concerned by the soft sadness that came from Ozpin, *Were you two close?*

*Yes, she was a good friend to me.* Ozpin chuckled, *She certainly knew how to keep me in line.*

*I’d love to meet her some day.* Oscar smiled, reaching into his pocket and petting down Ozpin’s back.

Ozpin sighed, some of the previous sadness ebbing away, *She would love you. I know it.*

*That’s good to know.* Oscar replied before stopping in front of a store, *You wanna check it out Oz?*

*Sure, but we probably shouldn’t stay out too much longer. It’s already dark out and I’d rather you not wander around a dark city alone.* Ozpin cautioned.

*But I’m not alone, I’ve got you.* Oscar teased, stepping into the store.

They continued talking as Oscar browsed the racks. Eventually he settled on a red and green coat, some red belts, black pants, white button up, orange sash, and red and orange boots. Most of which were actually on clearance, so lucky them. They bought their items to the check out, and bought them with the emergency money Qrow gave Oscar back in Haven. Oscar opted to wear his new outfit out of the store, it was kinda cold out and the new jacket could come in handy.

*Let’s head back, I think I remember the way.* Ozpin said, *let’s go somewhere quiet for me to turn back into a cloud dog.*

Oscar giggled into his hand as Ozpin groaned at his slip up, *Ok Oz. Let’s get you back into cloud dog form.*

*Cloud dog and bubbles. Two things you will never let go.* Ozpin lamented.

*Yup, you shall live with this shame for the rest of your days. Muahahaha!* Oscar replied dramatically.

Once they were alone and Ozpin was back in his samoyed form he glared at Oscar, *You’re mean to me.*

Oscar simply stuck his tongue out and started walking back out onto the street. Ozpin huffed and trotted after him, bumping against his legs a tad harder than necessary. Oscar bumped him back with a laugh and rubbed the top of his head.

It didn’t take too long for the pair to find their way back, the city was built like a grid and the streets were numbered. If you paid attention it wasn't too hard to find your way around. When they arrived back at the house Maria greeted them at the door. 

“Took you two long enough!” she said, pulling Oscar into a quick hug and scratching under Ozpin’s chin. “You two had us worried sick!”

Oscar chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry Maria, We just needed some fresh air. Plus I wanted to see Midnight.”

“Well what’s done is done. No going back now. Come inside, you must be freezing out there. Even with your fancy new clothes.”

Oscar laughed, “You like ‘em?” he spun in a little circle and struck a pose.

Maria snorted and shook her head fondly, “They look fine.”

Ozpin trotted forward and noticed the distinct lack of other people, *Oscar, can you ask Maria where everyone is.*

Oscar nodded and asked Maria, her response sent a brief wave of guilt through Oscar and Ozpin. “They’re still out looking for you two. Have been all day, the only reason I’m here is to watch the baby and to be here in case you came back.”

“Oh… I guess we did forget to say anything when we left.” Oscar said guiltily. 

*We were both upset, we weren’t thinking straight. We can apologize to them when they return.* Ozpin soothed, nossing Oscar’s hand. 

Oscar smiled and patted Ozpin’s head, “Yeah, alright. But I still feel like I should do something.”

“Why not cook something? They’re bound to be hungry, and who doesn’t like a nice hot meal on a cold night?” Maria offered, making her way to the living room where Adrian was happily playing with a stuffed bear.

“My aunt did teach me how to make a pretty mean casserole.” Oscar mused.

“Great. Now get to it!” Maria ordered with a smile.

“Yes ma’am!” Oscar chirped, trotting to the kitchen and beginning to make the food.

Ozpin plodded over to Adrian and played gently with him for a while as Oscar cooked. The three fell into a comfortable quiet, with coos from Adrian and Oscar’s cooking being the only noise in the house. That is, until there were the sounds of familiar voices outside.

*They’re back.* Ozpin said, a brief spike of anxiety shooting through his and Oscar’s connected minds. Oscar sighed and glanced over at the timer he had. Letting the teams in shouldn’t take too long. He lightly scratched Ozpin’s head to offer some comfort before heading towards the door. “Oh. I was wondering when you guys would show up.” He said as he opened the door for them. 

“Oscar!” An elated cry went up from the group. Oscar smiled a little more. Guess the team missed him and Oz more than they thought. His eyes went wide as Nora let out a scream, barely having time to brace himself as the teams threw themselves at him and tackled him in a group hug. 

Ruby helped him up once the others got off him, he groaned and rubbed the back of his head giving the others a small smile.

“You had us worried sick!” Weiss said first.

“Are you ok?” Ruby asked.

“What are you wearing?” Nora chimed in.

As the adults stepped in Terra sniffed the air, “Is something… cooking?”

“Oh! Uh… yeah, I thought maybe you would appreciate a hot meal after… spending all day looking for me apparently.” he said shrugging his shoulders and giving an awkward smile.

Jaune stepped forward, a sad look on his face, “It was my fault we were all out there in the first place. Oscar, I am so sorry. For earlier. I was way WAY out of line, and what I said-” 

“No.” Oscar interrupted, “You’re apologizing to the wrong guy.” Oscar looked at Ozpin and gave him a nod. Ozpin nodded back and dissipated his animal form, luckily well out of sight of Terra and Saffron, taking control of Oscar’s body.

“I think we should take this outside. Don’t you?” Ozpin asked, nodding to Jaune’s sister and sister-in-law.

“Right. You guy’s stay here, me and Ozzzzcar. Need to talk alone.” Jaune said, following Ozpin out to the backyard.

Once they were outside Ozpin spoke first, “Mr.Arc, I don’t blame you for being upset or for lashing out. You’ve been hurting, I understand that. I’m sorry for getting so mad at you as well. I was afraid you would harm Oscar.” 

Jaune looked guiltily at his feet, “I’m sorry again. I just got so mad… but that’s not an excuse for my actions. I’m really really sorry.”

“It’s fine Mr.Arc.” Ozpin sighed heavily, “Truthfully I don’t blame you. The fall, Pyrrha... it was all my fault. I can’t blame you for being so angry.”

“No. It was my fault. I should have stopped Pyrrha, I should have done more to help. But I was useless.” Jaune said, tears starting to form in his eyes.

*Oz…* Oscar said hesitantly, *Can I say something? To you and Jaune?*

*Of course just a moment.* Ozpin replied, “Mr.Arc, Oscar would like to say something.”

Jaune blinked, “Ok, sure.”

Ozpin gave control back to Oscar and sat in front of him in his samoyed form. *The floor is yours Oscar.*

“Alright, first I gotta know. Oz, did you tell Pyrrha to fight Cinder?” Oscar asked bluntly, looking directly at Ozpin.

Ozpin was taken aback, *Well… I mean… no I suppose not, but-.* 

“It's not your fault Oz, she made the decision to fight Cinder instead of listening to you so she could get out alive. Pyrrha knew what she was going into when she fought Cinder and it cost her her life, but you didn't make her fight, you didn't order her to. It was her choice, not yours.” Oscar said, putting his hand on the side of Ozpin’s face. “And Jaune, do you honestly think you could have stopped Pyrrha from fighting Cinder at the time?” 

“I… I don’t know. Knowing her though? Probably not.” Jaune sighed, a sad but fond smile on his face.

“None of this was your guys’ fault. Honestly you’re both kinda doing what Hazel is doing. You’re blaming anyone but her. It was her choice and her choice alone. You can’t blame yourselves or anyone else.” Oscar continued, resolutely.

Jaune and Ozpin were silent for a long moment, both embroiled in their own thoughts. Jaune was the first to speak up, “You’re right Oscar, we can’t blame ourselves and we can’t blame each other. Ozpin, I hope you can forgive me.”

Ozpin moved up and licked Jaune’s face, getting a small laugh out of the blond. *Oscar do you mind telling Mr.Arc that I will forgive him if he can forgive me, and himself?*

Oscar nodded and relayed the message. Jaune smiled and rubbed the top of Ozpin’s head, “I do forgive you Oz, and I’ll work on forgiving myself. In fact lets do that together, you and me, forgiveness buddies!”

Oscar and Ozpin laughed and Ozpin jumped fully on Jaune, his tail wagging happily as he licked all over Jaune’s face. Jaune laughed and tried to push the playful beast off, as Oscar just sat there and laughed at them. 

Eventually Oscar took pity on Jaune and gently pushed Oz to gain his attention, “Come on Bubbles, let him go.” 

Ozpin growled a bit at the nickname, but got off a still giggling Jaune. “Wait,” Jaune breathed, “who’s Bubbles?”

Oscar grinned at Ozpin who shot him a warning glare. “You really wanna know Jaune?”

Jaune sat up and looked between the two, “Yes?” 

“Well you see-ACK!” Oscar cried as Ozpin tackled him to the ground, initiating a wrestling match between the pair.

*Don’t you even dare!* Ozpin said, as he jumped at and wrestled with Oscar.

Jaune pulled Ozpin off the boy and held the wiggling dog in his arms as Oscar caught his breath, “You ok Oscar?”

Oscar giggled and gave Jaune a thumbs up, “I’m dandy!”

Jaune laughed and released Ozpin, “That’s good, how about we go back inside?”

“Sounds good!” Oscar chirped and bounced to his feet, playfully rubbing the top of Ozpin's head.

Once they were inside they found everyone chatting and eating Oscar’s casserole. Qrow was the first one to notice them reenter the home. 

“Hey! There you guys are! The talk go well?” he called, grabbing the attention of the others in the room.

“Yeah, it did.” Jaune said simply, ruffling Oscar’s hair. “By the way, are you gonna tell me who this “Bubbles” is?”

Oscar grinned and looked at Ozpin who just huffed and laid down on the floor, *Go ahead and tell him. Not like I can really stop you.*

Oscar fist pumped and regaled the tale to the group, minus Saffron and Terra who had decided to turn in early. By the end the entire group was laughing uproariously.

“Professor! That’s hilarious!” Ruby giggled, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

“It’s not as funny as the time you and I got dad to wear that princess dress though.” Yang chimed in. 

“Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about that!” Ruby cried before launching into the story. 

Her tale led to another, and that led to more, and soon the living room was filled with stories of past fun and laughter. Eventually the hour grew late and they all turned in for a well deserved rest. As Oscar lay in his sleeping bag on the floor with Oz cuddled to his side, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the beginning of something wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	8. Other Side Of The Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just what has Salem been getting up to recently?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 8!

Salem’s heart just about melted when Oscar shifted into his fox form and cuddled into her side.

“I’m sorry!” he cried, “I wanna bring you! But You’ll scare everyone! I’m sorry!”

Oh this poor little thing. “Hush little cub.” she said soothingly as she nuzzled the top of his head, “There is no need to apologize, I know I’m rather… frightening to most.” really an understatement if you thought about it. “But I’ll stay by the forest, just call for me when you want to see me.”

She smiled as he nuzzled against her before changing back to his human form and throwing his arms around her. Her heart truly did melt when he kissed the top of her head though. “I’ll see you soon Midnight. I promise.”

He sounded so sad when he said that, so she nuzzled his belly in hope of making him smile. It worked as he giggled and pushed her head away. She saw Ozpin lick his face and cuddle close to Oscar as she stood, stretched, and hopped out of the flatbed. She turned back to Oscar who leaned over the side to rub the top of her head, she moved up to lick the side of his face before she ran into the forest. She didn’t look back, fearing that she wouldn’t be strong enough to leave if she did.

Once she was sure she was out of eye sight of the others, she turned into an eagle and took off back to her castle. She enhanced her speed with magic and reached her castle in a matter of hours. Landing in the balcony she shifted back into her human form and stretched, it had been some time since she had spent so long in her animal form. 

“Hello?” she called out, “Arthur? Are you here?”

Stepping out into the hallway she was greeted by Hazel, “Good afternoon my lady.” 

“Good afternoon Hazel.” she greeted, “Tell me, what have I missed since I’ve been away? Aside from your’s, Emerald’s, and Mercury’s break from prison.”

“Nothing else my lady. Only that.” Hazel replied politely. 

“Did Arthur and Tyrian tell you of my message?” Salem asked.

Hazel sighed and a brief look of anger crossing his face, “Yes. He did.”

Salem narrowed her eyes but chose to ignore the flash of anger, “Good. I expect you to adhere to my commands. Is that understood Hazel?”

“Yes my lady.” he replied, his fists clenched. 

She nodded at him, “Good. Now have you seen Arthur? I need to speak with him.”

“He should be in his lab.” Hazle replied, stepping deftly out of her way.

“Good, you are dismissed.” she said, stepping past him and making her way to Arthurs lab.

Once she reached the lab door she let herself in, not feeling the need to knock, “Arthur? Are you in here?” 

“Here my lady!” the muffled voice of Arthur Watts called.

Salem stepped around some equipment and greeted her advisor, “I see your mission in Mistral was successful.”

“Indeed, might I inquire about how the young master is doing?” he replied, giving her a knowing smirk.

She hummed with a smile, “Oscar is doing fine. He had a rather rough time with his group and some Apathy, but I was able to help him… along with a bit of help from Ozpin.”

Arthur’s face turned to shock, “Ozpin? Did he recognize you?”

“No, I disguised my voice so he wouldn’t recognize me. And I don’t think he recognized my animal form. I told them I was an animal Grimm hybrid, they seemed to buy it.” she explained before sighing, “Oscar called me mama. It was purely by mistake I know but… it felt… nice.”

Arthur hummed, “I knew you had basically adopted the boy already. At least we know he cares for you too.”

Salem smiled, “I suppose so. Though I will say, it’s a bit odd to be called mama after so long.”

“Didn’t Emerald call you mom by accident just the other day?” Arthur chuckled, turning to work on his latest project.

“Yes but that’s mom, not mama. There's a difference.” she shot back playfully.

Two shared a laugh before Arthur sighed and turned back to Salem, “My lady, what does this mean for the future? You had plans, goals. Are you truly willing to give those all up for this boy?”

“Yes, I believe I am.” she said. She knew she already cared deeply for the child, and she couldn’t imagine ever harming him. So if she had to throw this whole war to the side for him, then so be it.

“I will support you in your decision my lady.” Arthur said, a sincere smile on his face.

She smiled in return, “Thank you Arthur. Now I have to go back. I need to be close if he needs me again.”

“Of course, give him my regards.” he said playfully, turning back to his work. 

She rolled her eyes, “I shall. I’ll be in contact Arthur. Tell the others I said goodbye.” 

He waved goodbye over his shoulder and she left, went back to the balcony, shifted to her eagle form, and took off. Her flight back was a bit faster than her flight there, and she landed softly in the snow outside of the city, shifting seamlessly into her tigress form. She trotted through the woods for a bit before finding a comfortable enough spot and curling up for a short cat nap. 

She woke to the sound of a familiar voice calling through the forest, “Midnight are you still here?”

Her ears perked and she quickly stood, all but running to the voice of her cub. 

“Midnight!” Oscar cried, and she grinned as she raced to her cub. 

She shot through the bushes and scooped her cub into her paws, nuzzling and cuddling him close to her. It felt so right to have her cub in her arms. She heard a yip to the side but ignored it, she was too focused on the giggling fox kit before her.

“Did you miss me already Oscar?” she laughed, “It’s only been a few hours!” 

Oscar managed to wiggle out of her grip and bowed playfully at her, “I didn’t miss you! I thought you missed me!”

“I did miss you!” she replied, gently batted a paw at her cub, who started adorably growling and jumping at it. Eventually falling to his back and kicking at it, she laughed and turned to Ozpin. He looked softly at Oscar, so similarly to how he had looked at their children all those years ago.

“But what truly brings you both here?” she asked curiously.

Ozpin sighed, a sad look coming over his features, “We had a bit of a… falling out, with our group. They just need some time to process everything.”

Salem tilted her head, concern for her cub and, surprisingly, Ozpin growing in her chest. “Very well, I hope the both of you are alright though.” If any of them so much as harmed a hair on her cubs head, no amount of aura in the world could protect them from her wrath.

“We’ll be alright. We just needed some fresh air.” Ozpin explained, pulling Oscar gently closer to him with his paw.

Oscar sighed, his body sagging, “They were really mad at us.”

“Not us, Oscar.” Ozpin said, nosing the top of Oscar’s head, “Just me. I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”

“”It’s ok Oz.” Oscar said, his head tilted up to boop Ozpin’s nose. “You don’t have to apologize, I could have stayed home anyways. I chose this, and I’ll keep choosing it.” 

Salem felt a swell of affection and pride fill her heart; this child was so strong in more ways that one. Her face softened as Ozpin began licking Oscar’s face, making the boy fall onto his back with his laughter. Salem noted the playful twinkle in Ozpin’s eyes as he nosed Oscar’s belly, drawing further giggles from the little cub.

Salem chuckled, it seems even after all this time he still held a soft spot of children. “Come now Ozpin, let the poor cub live.”

She smirked as Ozpin rolled his eyes and pulled back, thus allowing Oscar to roll onto his stomach and dart over to Salem. He huddled adorably between her front paws and stuck his tongue out at Ozpin. Salem had to bite back a laugh at the sight.

“You would dare!” Ozpin gasped, “Midnight, return that cub to me! He is in need of a lesson in manners!” 

She smirked at Ozpin, “He is but a child, I say allow him some reprieve.” she stood over her cub in a protective stance.

Ozpin smiled back, his eyes still holding that playful twinkle as he bowed at her, “Do you challenge me?”

“For Oscar?” she asked playfully yet completely serious about her words, “I would challenge the Brothers themselves.”

Ozpin glanced at Oscar with a grin and the cub trotted away from them, his tails wagging happily.

Ozpin lunged at her and she allowed herself to be brought back by it. They rolled around in the snow, wrestling and jumping at each other happily. She hadn’t played like this in so long. She cared somewhat for those that worked for her, but she couldn’t exactly play like this with them. She felt so carefree, how long had it been since she last allowed herself to do anything like this?

Eventually Ozpin managed to pin her to the ground and he laughed in victory, “Well that was fun.” he teased, “We should do this more often.”

She smiled back at him, “I agree.” and she pushed him over quickly with her front paws and pinned him to the ground. She gave him a cheeky look and was about to start teasing him when Oscar’s giggles pulled her attention away.

“Hey Midnight! Did you know Oz was ticklish?” he called happily.

She smirked down at her prey, “Is that so? Well, let’s see just how ticklish you are.”

She fell back on her memories of tickle fights with Ozma to decide where to strike first. He had always been rather sensitive in the spot where the front legs met the torso, that was where she struck first. It garnered the exact reaction she was hoping for, bright wolfish laughter poured from his mouth the moment she began nuzzling in that spot. Salem chuckled and brought her tail up to tickle his stomach, which drew further laughter from the dire wolf beneath her.

She heard Oscar laugh from where he sat, “How do you like it old man?”

Salem decided to end her tickling barrage on Ozpin and looked at Oscar, “Is that any way to speak to your elders young cub”

She smirked at the look of sudden fear on Oscar’s face as Ozpin caught his breath. “Let’s say we teach him a lesson.” he said, smirking up at her.

“Agreed.” she grinned back, getting off Ozpin and giving Oscar an evil look. This was going to be fun.

Oscar looked between the two of them and took off, “You’ll never take me alive!”

“Get him!” Ozpin called from next to her before taking off after the cub.

They chased him around the forest, all the while he proved to be quite adept at evasion. He was shockingly fast, and certainly more agile than them. He truly seemed to evade them when he darted under the roots of a tree. She could easily reach him in another form, but seeing as she was stuck in this one for now, he seemed to have won this round.

“Ha! Try and get me now!” Oscar taunted the pair.

“You forget, little one.” Ozpin said, shifting into a silver fox, something she had temporarily forgotten he could do. “You’re not the only one who can change form.”

Ozpin quickly darted under the roots and dragged Oscar out by his scruff. Once they were out of the roots Ozpin dropped Oscar and shifted to his wolf form, pinning Oscar on his back before he could escape again. 

“Are you ready for your lesson, Oscar?” Ozpin teased smugly.

When Oscar gave Ozpin pleading puppy dog eyes, Salem rolled her’s. If Ozpin was anything like her Ozma he would crumble to those in a second, he always had to their daughters after all. So before he could release their captive she nuzzled into Oscar’s side, making the cub burst into little foxy giggles.

“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me?” she asked playfully.

“Yes ma’am!” he chirped and began tickling Oscar with her.

Oscar was wiggling and laughing under the two, his tails wagging a mile a minute. Salem maneuvered her tail to tickle his belly, making Oscar’s laughter grow by an octave.

They tickled the poor little cub for a few minutes more before he seemed to get a hold of himself enough to switch back into his human form. Salem looked at Oz and they silently agreed to stop their tickling barrage. The pair cuddled up to him as his giggles died down.

“Remind me never to challenge you two to a tickle fight.” Oscar breathed, a wide grin on his face.

“No promises.” Ozpin replied, and Oscar giggled once again.

Salem relaxed against Oscar, cuddling against him with a content sigh. She glanced at Oscar, who was leaning back on the tree with closed eyes, totally relaxed. She smiled softly, for a child to have lived through such hardship and come out so sweet and kind, it was a marvel. She was a bit curious though, she knows the big picture of what happened. His parents were killed by a maniac who set their house on fire, Oscar helped the catch the one who did it, but she was a bit curious over the other details.

“Oscar, I have a question for you.” she said softly, breaking the comfortable silence they had found themselves in. “You don’t have to answer it, but it’s been on my mind for some time.” 

“Shoot.” Oscar replied, now looking at her curiously. 

She hesitated a moment. She didn’t want to make Oscar upset, but she had already brought it up. No point in backing down now. “Where are your parents? I mean, you’re a young child all alone with a group of relative strangers. Why aren’t they with you?” That was a good lead in, hopefully.

The whine from Ozpin and the fact that he cuddled closer to the boy, told her that her plan to hopefully not upset Oscar might have already failed. 

“I… don’t have any parents. They were killed when I was young. A man killed them in their sleep, he broke my leg and set our house on fire. I survived by pure chance. I’ve been living with my aunt in Misteral ever since. I mean till recently that is.” he explained softly before giving a small smile to Ozpin and scratching his muzzle, “He’s the reason I left home. He called me to be something greater than myself. I was pretty hesitant at first, but we’ve bonded a lot since then.” 

Salem felt a swell of pride and love fill her chest as Ozpin lifted his head and looked Oscar in the eyes, “Oscar, I am so proud of the person you have become. And I’m so happy to have met you, even if it was under less than ideal circumstances.”

“I too am happy to have met you Oscar.” Salem chimed in, feeling quite close to tears. “I have been… rather lonely in my life.” Brothers above if that wasn’t true. “But you have brought such light into my dark world, and I cannot thank you enough.”

Oscar chuckled softly and cuddled the two of them closer, “I love you guys.”

Salem felt her heart skip a beat at the words before he smiled and nuzzled his cheek, “We love you too Oscar.”

“Very much.” Ozpin said softly. “I’m proud to be part of your life.”

Oscar smiled and hugged them closer, Salem almost feared that if he held them any tighter he might choke them. When he suddenly stiffened she grew concerned. She knew there were no Grimm around and she hadn’t heard anyone approaching, what was it? 

“Wait a second.” he said, looking confused, “How am I understanding you both right now? Oz you're not talking in my head, and I’m not in my animal form. So what gives?”

Salem wanted to answer but bit her tongue, to speak of magic would give her away instantly. “Oh, well sometimes magic can get muddled and attributes from your animal form can transfer to your human form.” Ozpin explained, “A love of shiny things, increased agility, or even the ability to speak to animals.”

Salem couldn’t have put it better herself. “Oh… well ok then.” Oscar replied, “That makes sense. I think.”

Salem chuckled, this boy looked so cute when he was confused, it was nearly enough to melt her poor heart even more. “Try not to think about it too hard. From what I can see, magic is really strange.”

“That it certainly is.” Ozpin laughed, “I’ve had more than my fair share of magic mishaps.”

“Oh really?” Oscar asked, a sly look coming over his face, “Do tell.”

Ohoho the stories she could tell, if only she were able. The shrinking incident, the time with the glitter, the bubbles! She was so tempted to give herself away right then, if only to gush about the hilarious stories from her times with Ozma.

“Well…” Ozpin began sheepishly.

“Well?” Oscar asked, leaning towards Ozpin a bit.

Salem had to bite back a laugh at the little whine that left Ozpin, “It was a long time ago, back when I was with… her.”

Oh. He meant her. She stiffened a bit, a sudden spike of anxiety surging through her. “What happened?” she asked.

Ozpin sighed and with a deadpan tone replied, “Bubbles.”

Oh, she knew this one! This would not be easy to get through. This was one of the funniest stories she knew!

“Bubbles?” Oscar asked.

“Bubbles.” Ozpin repeated. “You see, it was a minor spell for our daughters, we were playing and I wanted to make them some bubbles. It… kind of backfired.”

Salem smiled, she was so not letting him get away with letting it end there. “Backfired how?”

“The spell worked, I did make the bubbles. Unfortunately, they were coming out of my mouth. And they didn’t stop coming out for a week.” Ozpin chuckled.

“Seriously?” Oscar laughed.

“Yes seriously! Can you imagine? The closest thing the people back then had to an actual god, and he’s got multi-colored bubbles coming out of his mouth every time he spoke! I was mortified!” Ozpin cried, covering his face with his paws.

Salem couldn’t hold it back anymore and she began laughing heartily along with Oscar. That had been one of her favorite memories of her time with Ozma. She was actually a bit surprised at how much she actually missed being around this. Around people who didn’t either hate, fear, or worshipped her. It was nice.

A breeze blew through, causing Oscar to shiver, “Wow, it is really cold out.”

Salem moved a bit closer to Oscar to try and warm him up, as Ozpin spoke, “It’s going to be colder in Atlas. Maybe we should get you into something warmer.”

“This is all I have though.” Oscar replied, gesturing to his clothes. 

“Then you’ll have to go shopping won’t you.” Salem said with a small smile, “Go on. It’s starting to get dark anyway.”

Oscar looked at her with a smile and threw his arms around her, “Thanks for making me feel better Midnight. I appreciate it.”

She nuzzled closer to him, “Anytime Oscar. If you ever need cheering up again just come find me and I’ll tickle all your blues away.” and she brushed her tail against his neck, making Oscar giggle.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Oscar replied, playfully pushing her away and standing to brush the snow off of his pants. “Come on bubbles, we’ve got shopping to do.” 

Salem snorted a bit as Ozpin grumbled and shook the snow off his fur, “You will never let me live this down will you?”

“Nope!” Oscar replied, popping the P.

“Lovely.” Ozpin huffed.

“Bye Midnight! I’ll see you later!” Oscar chirped, rubbing the top of her head before starting his trek back to the city.

“Goodbye Midnight. It was fun, I hope we get to play again.” Ozpin smiled and trotted off to catch up to Oscar. 

Once the pair were out of sight she shifted into a small black bird and followed after them, she wanted to be sure they reached the city safely. She followed them through their journey around the city, sitting outside across the street of a shop when he came out in a new outfit. He looked just adorable in it, like a little prince or a knight. She followed them back to the place they were staying and sat in the backyard watching them putter about and talk with Maria or play a bit with the adorable baby she could see with them. 

Eventually Maria slipped outside and sat at the little table, Salem stiffened slightly when the woman appeared to look right at her. Her metallic eyes narrowed, “I know who you are. Salem.”

Salem blinked but sighed and glanced inside, still only Oscar and Ozpin, both still preoccupied. She fluttered to where they would not be able to see her if they looked out, and transformed, using a glamor to look less… Grimm. “How?” she asked plainly.

“You knew about the Apathy, you could understand me, you tried to save all of us, you were hurt by Ruby’s eyes but were able to shake it off, clearly more than a Grimm Tiger hybrid.” Maria said, a bit of a smug look on her face. “And you also just told me. Right now.”

Salem was taken slightly aback but hummed, “Fair point. Now what? Are you going to tell them?”

“Not unless you give me a reason.” she said, “You have been nothing but kind to that child, and to the others. So unless you give me a reason to tell them I won’t.” 

Salem nodded, “I… don’t know if I even wish to keep this fight going. I honestly don’t think I would ever harm him.” she glanced at the door, making the target of her statement quite clear.

“You are quite motherly with him.” Maria noted. “Can’t say I blame you. That child is… rather easy to care about.”

Salem hummed in agreement, “I will stay close for him. But I’ll try not to interfere too much.”

“Very well.” Maria replied, “Not like I can stop you if you show up… or if you don’t.”

Salem nodded again and transformed back into a bird, hiding a little further in the tree this time. Maria looked to her once more then reentered the house. Salem stayed in that tree for a time, simply thinking. Thinking about the war, what she was going to do now. She knew she could never hurt her cub, nor any of these children, not after all they had just been through. She had even fought the Grimm for them, and that was not something she had really done since Ozma’s second incarnation. She stayed in that spot for a while, stuck in her own mind, until she heard a shriek. Sounds like the teams were back because that was undoubtedly Nora. She shook her head and watched as two figures came outside. Jaune and Oscar.

“Mr.Arc,” -Correction, Jaune and Ozpin- “I don’t blame you for being upset or for lashing out. You’ve been hurting, I understand that. I’m sorry for getting so mad at you as well. I was afraid you would harm Oscar.” She probably should have asked for more details regarding what happened. 

She saw Jaune looking down at his feet, “I’m sorry again. I just got so mad… but that’s not an excuse for my actions. I’m really really sorry.”

Ozpin sighed heavily, “It’s fine Mr.Arc. Truthfully I don’t blame you. The fall, Pyrrha… it was all my fault. I can’t blame you for being so angry.” 

Pyrrha? Who was Pyrrha? She would have to ask Arthur about this later. Salem was also startled that Ozpin was blaming himself for the fall. She had a very bad feeling about what must have happened at Beacon during the fall...

“No. It was my fault. I should have stopped Pyrrha, I should have done more to help. But I was useless.” Jaune sounded very close to tears at this point, which made Salem’s concern grow. Had he and this Pyrrha person been close?

“Mr.Arc, Oscar would like to say something.” Ozpin said before his eyes glowed gold and her cub was back in control. She wondered just what he had to say.

“Alright, first I gotta know. Oz, did you tell Pyrrha to fight Cinder?” Oscar’s first question had Salem reeling. Cinder? Her Cinder? What had that arrogant girl done?

“It’s not your fault Oz, she made the decision to fight Cinder instead of listening to you so she could get out alive. Pyrrha knew what she was getting into when she fought Cinder and it cost her her life, but you didn’t make her fight, you didn’t order her to. It was her choice, not yours.” Salem was definitely going to have to talk to Arthur, and to Emerald and Mercury. “And Jaune, do you honestly think you could have stopped Pyrrha from fighting Cinder at the time?”

“I… I don’t know. Knowing her though? Probably not.” Jaune sighed with a sad yet fond smile on his face.

“None of this was your guy’s fault. Honestly you’re kinda doing what Hazel is doing. You’re blaming anyone but her. It was her choice and her choice alone. You can’t blame yourselves or anyone else.” Oscar continued, he had a point too. She knew Hazel's grief was… misplaced, at best. She had used that hatred to bring him into her fold to harm Ozpin, but with recent events, she was going to have to do something about that. She knew Hazel, she knew there was a good heart in there. A deeply damaged heart, but a good one nonetheless.

“You’re right Oscar, we can’t blame ourselves and we can’t blame each other. Ozpin, I hope you can forgive me.” Jaune said, looking apologetically at Ozpin.

Salem felt a small smile form on her face when Ozpin moved up and licked Jaune’s face. “He says that he’ll forgive you if you can forgive yourself and him.”

Jaune smiled and rubbed the top of Ozpin’s head, “I do forgive you Oz, and I’ll work on forgiving myself. In fact lets do it together, you and me, forgiveness buddies!” 

Oscar and Juane laughed as Ozpin jumped fully on Jaune with a happily wagging tail, as he licked all over Jaune’s face. Salem took that moment to fly off, allowing them their moment alone. She flew lazily over the city, taking in the sights and thinking about the conversation she just heard.

She didn’t realize Cinder had killed a student. She knew that the young woman had killed Ozpin. Perhaps she needed to get more details about the Fall, she had truly only asked if Ozpin had been dealt with. She had trusted her group to not harm the children, it was one of the rare rules she truly enforced. She would fly back to the castle and talk to her subordinates about everything tomorrow, right now she was rather tired. The hour was late, and she had just had a long day. 

So she glided herself back out to the forest and when she was far enough, shifted back into her tigress form. She found a comfy enough spot that was hidden away by some rocks and trees. She settled down and soon fell asleep on the forest floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	9. Details Of The Fallen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem has some difficult conversations, and realizes a few things as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! Chapter 9! So fast to!

Salem wasn’t entirely ready for the conversations she knew she needed to have. Though she wasn’t entirely sure why. Was it the fear of hearing the horrors, knowing any child’s blood would be on her hands? Was it the fact that she had trusted someone as, now clearly, unstable as Cinder to follow her command? Maybe it was simply the regret in her heart, the regret that her little innocent cub was dragged into this war because of her idiotic, selfish, action. It was most likely all three in truth. 

Her first destination was to Arthur, he might be able to put a bit more perspective on what she should do. She trusted his judgment, and truly needed his advice at this moment. She knocked on the door to his lab and entered once she heard his muffled voice call “Come in!”

“Arthur?” she asked, “May I speak with you?”

“My lady! Of course, what is it that you need?” he asked as he turned around and removed his goggles.

“I… need you to tell me everything you know about what happened at the Fall of Beacon. I fear that I might not have been given all the actual details.” Salem said she didn’t feel like dancing around this.

“I see.” Arthur replied, “What would you like to know. I don’t know much about this either, I wasn’t there after all.”

Salem sighed, “I am well aware. But… tell me what you know regardless. All I truly know of the fall is that Ozpin was killed during it. Nothing more.”

Arthur hummed, “Very well my lady. All I know of the fall is that there were 50 civilians killed, no children, many more injured some of those were children. Ozpin was killed, as was one student.”

“Pyrrha.” Salem breathed, when Arthur gave her a curious look she explained, “I overheard my cu-... Oscar, and Jaune talking about her.”

She saw Arthur’s lip twitch upwards, “Well, that’s what I know. Unless you would like to hear about how I reprogrammed and took control of the Atlas robots.”

She gave a small chuckled, “No, I’ve heard you tell that story to Hazel multiple times. But… I would like some advice.”

“Of course my lady. What do you need?” Arthur asked, his face softening.

Salem hesitated only for a moment, “I… was her death… my fault? I mean, it was, I know. But could I have done anything to prevent that? She was young, too young to be in this war. I never meant for any of the students to be killed.”

“There’s more, isn’t there.” Arthur said, but not as a question.

She looked away for a moment, leave it Arthur to see right through her. “I’m not sure I wish to continue this war.”

“I had an inclination.” he mused, “You’ve been rather… distracted lately. And with your new bond to Ozpin’s latest host…”

“I…” she began.

“I’ve been wondering for quite some time actually. A few years in fact. Your heart simply doesn’t seem to be in this anymore.” he continued. “This only adds to that, you once asked for every detail in your plans against Ozpin. These days though…”

“What do I do then?” she demanded, “I’ve been fighting this war for so long. I don’t think I can remember how to do much else.”

“You clearly remember how to love.” he said simply. “I say you start there.”

She was taken slightly aback, “I-you-well.”

“Is there anything else I can help you with my lady?” he asked, a poorly hidden smirk on his face.

“No Arthur. Thank you.” she took her leave, pointedly ignoring the slight chuckle that followed her out. She would have to get him back for that later.

Salem took a deep breath once she closed the door behind her, she still had to speak with Mercury and Emerald. She needed to know why Cinder had killed Pyrrha, and she needed to know why Jaune blamed himself, she could guess why Ozpin blamed himself, she also wanted to know why Jaune seemed particularly distraught about her death.

She walked through the halls of her castle, she had an idea on where she could find Mercury. He was usually in the training hall right about now. The closer she got to the room, the clearer the sounds of training, it sounded like there was more than one person in there. It was most likely Emerald, those two were usually together in the castle. 

Entering the room she was unsurprised to find the two sparing and chatting. She smiled softly and didn’t immediately alert them to her presence. She could rather clearly remember the day Cinder brought them to her step, they had been so young, so adorable. Emerald was scared and soft spoken, Salem had done her best to make her feel welcome and get her to open up. Mercury was aggressive and seemed terrified anytime someone seemed to get even a little angry, she had done what she could to help him, but he was certainly harder to help than Emerald. 

Mercury, the ever perceptive one, noticed her first. “Uh- Ma’am! How-uh how long have you been standing there?”

“Not long, I would like to talk to you both.” she said, “Neither of you are in trouble, but I would like to know more about the Fall of Beacon.”

The two shared a confused glance before Emerald spoke, “What did you need to know ma’am?”

“I need to know why Cinder killed Pyrrha, and what Pyrrha was to Jaune.” she said bluntly, but not unkindly.

Their eyes widened a bit but Emerald continued, “Well, Pyrrha was Jaune’s partner.”

“She had a huge crush on him I remember.” Mercury interjected. 

“Mercury!” Emerald cried, jabbing her elbow into his ribs.

Salem smiled, “No, it’s fine. I asked what she was to him. And now I know.”-her face turned serious-”But the second part, why did Cinder kill Pyrrha?”

Mercury spoke this time, “Well after Cinder killed the wizard Pyrrha went to fight her, apparently the old man told her not to. Gotta give her credit, even after she thought she killed that little robot kid she kept fighting. I can respect that.”

“Robot kid?” Salem asked.

“Penny Polendina.” Mercury continued, “The Atlas robot kid, she was the thing that led to the whole fall. We got Pyrrha to use her magnet semblance to tear her apart.”

“So there were two students killed.” she murmured. 

“She wasn’t really a student, she was just an android.” Emerald said. 

Salem hummed, “I see. Thank you both. Enjoy the rest of your training.”

She left the room and walked to the balcony in the main hall, she looked out over the land her castle resided in. She sighed as she leaned against the railing, two deaths, both on her hands. Children harmed, people killed, and for what? A war she didn’t even want to fight anymore. She needed to end this fight, and she vowed in that moment to end it. No more blood would be on her hands, she couldn’t allow another soul to fall to this war, she didn’t want the world to fall to darkness, not anymore. 

Brothers, why had it taken her so long to see this? How many years had this war been going on? How many had been killed by her Grimm, traumatized, and maimed by the creatures she had made? She was done. No more killing. Not from her. Not anymore.

With that final thought she shifted into an eagle and made her way back to Argus, and to her cub. She wanted to see him a great deal right now. Before she met him, affection was a very rare occurrence in her life, but now she craved some cuddles with her cub. 

Landing in the woods outside of Argus she settled into her tigress form and curled under a tree, hoping Oscar would be by soon. 

“Midnight!” well that was quick.

“Midnight where are you?” her cub’s voice was music to her ears and she bounded over to it.

“Oscar!” she cried, as she burst through the treeline. Her cub's face lit up upon seeing her and he opened his arms as she all but jumped on him. He laughed as she began happily nuzzling and rubbing against him. “I’ve missed you!”

“I saw you yesterday!” he giggled.

“Doesn’t matter! I still missed you!” she exalted.

He eventually managed to push her off, “Midnight, I have a proposal for you.”

Her head tilted to the side, “What is it?”

“I’m going to be bringing my friends Nora, Ren and Jaune to meet you. But we’re gonna prank Jaune!” he grinned.

She felt her own smile form, “How so?”

Oscar giggled mischievously, “So basically when I call for you, you're going to “attack” me. Got it?”

This was evil. She loved it. “Got it. I’ll be gentle though don’t worry.”

“I won’t. I trust you.” he said, rubbing the top of her head. She felt her heart warm at the words. Oscar trusted her, he trusted her not to hurt him. She would not let him down. “Ok. I’m gonna go get the others, you wait in those bushes. Your cue is “guess she’s not here.” alright?”

She nodded and he left. This was going to be hilarious. She trotted over to behind the bushes and hunkered down, getting ready for her cue. It was a few minutes later that she could hear voices coming back to where she was.

“You guys will love her! Midnight’s really great!” Oscar voice said, the sound coming closer and closer. “Midnight! Midnight are you here?”

She grinned wide as she got into position to pounce, she was so ready for this. “Are you sure she’s out here Oscar?” Nora asked.

“She might have left.” Ren said next.

Oscar hummed, “Welp. I guess she’s not here.”

Salem’s grin grew at her cue and she leapt out of the bushes with a wild roar,simply for affect. The children screamed as she tackled Oscar to the ground. Jaune’s screams were the loudest, and funnily enough the highest as well. As she stood over Oscar she put on her most menacing look and growled, raising her hackles and swishing her tail back and forth in faux agitation.

“Ok, guys. Let’s stay calm.” Jaune said, sounding terrified. “We need to get that thing away from Oscar, so follow my lead.”

She turned her head to look at Jaune and growled louder when he moved. He froze and glazed at his teammates, “It’s looking at me.” he whisper shouted, “What do I do?”

“Just relax Jaune.” Oscar said, and she snapped her face back to him. Making Jaune yelp, and if the crunch of the snow was anything to go by then he had taken a step forward. “I know what to do.”

“Oscar, please don’t do anything stupid.” Jaune said, his voice tight.

Oscar grinned at her and winked, he then slowly lifted a hand and scratched under her chin. She closed her eyes and lowered her hackles, quickly falling on top of Oscar making him “Oof.” 

“I… I…” Jaune stuttered. “How did you do that?”

“Easy.” Oscar wheezed, “Jaune, meet Midnight. Midnight, please get off me, you’re kind of crushing me.”

Salem rolled off Oscar and stood, shaking the snow off her body. She looked at Jaune’s face and grinned, as she watched him go through the five stages of grief in a few seconds. He sighed and ran a hand down his face, “Nice to meet you Midnight. I’m Jaune.”

The group burst into laughter and Salem nuzzled against Oscar, “You were perfect!” Oscar laughed, hugging her neck.

“I didn’t go overboard did I?” she asked.

“No way! You were amazing!” he giggled.

“Thank you.” she said, nuzzling her cheek against his.

He grinned and stood up, brushing the snow off his pants. “Sorry Jaune. I couldn’t resist.”

“Yes.” Jaune responded, “Yes you could have. You just didn’t want to.”

Oscar hummed contemplatively, “I mean… yeah.”

Jaune sighed, “Why do you do these things that you do?”

“Why do you yell at people who were just crying in front you a couple seconds ago?” Oscar shot back, a smug smile on his face.

Jaune opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. “Yeah, ok. You got me on that one.” 

“So this one is the reason you came by yesterday?” Salem asked, looking curiously at Oscar.

“Yeah, but we’re cool now. He apologized.” Oscar replied, scratching behind her ear. Salem leaned into the touch, but vowed to seek vengeance on the boy for hurting her cubs feelings. And Ozpin’s. Where was he anyway?

“Oscar where is Ozpin?” she inquired, “He’s usually right by your side.”

“Oh! Yeah, one sec.” Oscar took a deep breath and a moment later there sat Ozpin in his dire wolf form.

“Did you miss me?” he asked her teasingly.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, “Not in the slightest.”

Ozpin narrowed his eyes and bowed at her, “Is that so?”

She bowed in reply, “Oscar you may wish to move.” 

Oscar smiled and rolled his eyes, trotting back over to team JNR. “I warn you all now.” he said, “This will probably be super adorable.”

Ozpin growled at Salem playfully before lunging forward, this time she sidestepped and he face planted into a snowbank. The teens howled with laughter as Ozpin popped back up and sneezed. 

“Oh you are going down!” he growled charging at her. Salem leapt to meet him halfway and they fell into a heap of limbs and began wrestling. Eventually Salem managed to pin Ozpin to the ground, a wide grin on her face.

“Had enough yet?” she panted.

“Nope.” he cheekily replied, pushing her off with his front paws. He rolled onto his stomach and quickly dashed behind Oscar. “Come and get me!” 

She nodded to Oscar to move who looked back as Ozpin and grinned before shifting into his fox form and dashing away. “Traitor!” he called before Salem pounced, knocking him back once again. 

“Got you.” she teased. 

“Fine. You win.” he conceded. “Will you let me up now?”

She laughed lightly, “Now why would I do that. After all, the last time I had you like this, Oscar interrupted us.”

His eyes widened in horror, “Midnight. Don’t you dare. Not in front of them.”

“Why not? Haven’t they already seen you like this?” she cooed, her tail waving dangerously above him.

“Only Oscar, Ruby and Qrow know I’m ticklish in this form! The others would never let me live this down!” he pleaded.

Salem hummed, seemingly contemplating, “How about… no.” and with that she began brushing her tail onto his belly. 

He did give a valiant effort to not laughing, simply increasing his wiggling and little squeaks. Salem was almost beginning to think she would need to step it up when he suddenly burst into loud laughter. She quirked an eyebrow but a higher pitched giggle drew her attention. Nuzzling into Ozpin’s side was Oscar still in his fox form, she grinned at him and began nuzzling into the same spot she hit last time. 

“Are they… tickling him?” Nora finally asked, making Salem look up at her.

“I want to say yes… but I don’t think wolves can be ticklish.” Ren replied.

Salem looked at Oscar who nodded and turned back into his human form, he grabbed one of Ozpin’s back feet and began tickling it. “In our animal form we’re still able to feel and think like people. That includes ticklishness.” Oscar explained before grinning, “You guys should join in.”

Salem saw Ozpin widely shake his head no, but looking at the grins on the teens faces, he was out of luck. When the others began advancing on him Ozpin disappeared, and Oscar laughed. “You big baby! Can’t handle a bit of tickling! …I can handle it better than you!” Oscar said, clearly arguing with Ozpin in his head.

Salem laughed and playfully knocked Oscar over, settling on his lap for her coveted cuddles. He giggled and hugged around her middle. She sighed happily and snuggled against him. The other teens sat around them, each seeming to be much more calm around her now, especially Jaune. She looked at the blonde boy and frowned, she was the reason he was hurting so much. She was the reason he had lashed out at Oscar and Ozpin, she was the reason his partner was dead.

“Midnight?” Oscar asked, gently petting down her back, “You seem kind of upset, are you ok?”

She sighed, “I’ve just had… a rather long day I suppose.”

He hummed and scratched the side of her neck, “You wanna cuddle for a while?”

“That would be lovely.” she said, leaning into the scritches. 

“Are you actually talking to her?” Jaune asked, breaking the moment between them.

Oscar chuckled, “Yup.”

“How?” Nora chirped, leaning against Ren.

“Magic shenanigans.” Oscar said simply. 

The other teens nodded sagely, repeating Oscar’s statement in unison before looking at each other and giggling. Salem chuckled a bit herself, this was nice. Her subordinates weren’t really the joking types, unless you counted Mercury’s constant dry comments as jokes. She hadn’t even realized how much she missed this… this… softness, this openness. When one is always surrounded by darkness, it was so easy to forget the light even existed. Luckily Oscar had reminded her, he had brought the light her world had been sorely missing. She let out a breath, smiling a bit, she was quite content to simply stay here with her cub forever.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m getting cold.” Nora stated, standing and stretching. 

“We should head back.” Ren agreed, also standing. 

“Oscar, you coming?” Jaune asked.

Salem growled and snuggled ever closer to her cub, “No. I wish to cuddle more, and I get so lonely when you leave.”

“Midnight wants company. And cuddles.” Oscar said, clearly amused. But then he paused and said, “Wait what? We can do that?”

“What is it?” Nora asked.

“Oz says that we could bring Midnight with us.” Oscar said.

Jaune looked dubious, “He uh, he does know she’s a giant tiger right?”

“We can make her not that! He says we could change her into something else! Although, this does make me wonder why we didn’t do this earlier when we first got here.” He said, sounding a bit annoyed at the end.

Salem knew exactly what Ozpin meant, he could shift her form into something else, something harmless. She could take this opportunity to simply shift herself, mostly because she didn’t quite like the sensation of someone else doing it for her. 

“Well what are we waiting for! Let’s see some magic!” Nora cried, looking excitedly between Oscar and Salem.

Oscar rolled his eyes with a smile and with a golden glow Ozpin was now in control. “Midnight. If you are alright with it, I would like to change your form to something less… deadly looking. You may choose your new form of course, but only if you're ok with it.”

Salem looked at him and nodded, “Simply turn me into a house cat. I rather like being a feline after all.” 

Ozpin smiled and nodded, “Alright, one house cat coming up.” 

As Ozpin gathered his magic, so did she, the moment she could feel his magic reach her she subtly deflected it, shifting herself into her preferred form. Once the display was done she looked up at her Oscar, “How do I look?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Cute.” Ozpin chuckled, “Very cute.”

She stretched before quickly climbing up Ozpin and settling herself around his shoulders. “Are we heading back or not?”

The group all looked at each other and grinned, “Let’s go!” Jaune grinned. And thus the group headed back to Argus, after Ozpin gave Oscar control back and shifted into his samoyed form. She was truthfully excited to spend time with everyone like this. She was especially looking forward to all the cuddles she was sure to receive in this form. With that, she nuzzled against Oscar and smiled. This was going to be a wonderful trip with her cub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	10. But She Followed Me Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oscar loves his wolf dad and Grimm tiger mom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! Chapter 10! Hooray!

“And then she’ll jump out and scare the heck out of Jaune! What do you think?” Oscar grinned, as he explained his plan to prank Jaune in their introduction to Midnight.

“I love it!” Nora exalted, pumping her fist in the air.

“It would be a lot of fun.” Ren agreed, giving Nora a soft smile.

*I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.* Ozpin said with a chuckle.

Oscar’s grin grew even wider as he ignored Ozpin, “Great! Then I’m gonna run ahead and tell her! You guys will wait by the gates ok?” 

“Alright.” Nora beamed, “Ooo! I’m so excited! I haven’t been able to pull a good prank since Mistral!” 

“What prank did you pull there?” Oscar asked curiously.

Nora simply giggled and booped his nose, “I’ll never tell.”

Oscar pouted a bit but quickly broke into a giggle, “Alright then keep your secrets.”

“I’m back! You guys ready to go?” Jaune said as he burst into the room.

“Yup! You guys are gonna have to wait by the wall before we meet her though. I don’t want to freak her out.” Oscar explained.

“That’s fair.” Jaune shrugged, “Let’s get going then! We’re burning daylight!”

They all cheered and made their way to the Argus wall, once they were out Oscar trotted ahead to find Midnight and inform her of their plan. He was sure she would be in for the joke, she was cool like that. 

“Midnight!” he called. “Midnight where are you?”

“Oscar!” he heard from his left as he saw Midnight burst through the tree line. He smiled brightly and he opened his arms wide for her. He laughed as Midnight began nuzzling and rubbing against him. “I’ve missed you!” she cried.

“I saw you yesterday!” he giggled.

She nuzzled against him more, “Doesn’t matter! I still missed you!”

He giggled and pushed her off, he wanted to get down to business, “Midnight, I have a proposal for you.”

“What is it?” she asked with a tilted head.

He grinned, “I’m going to be bringing my friends Nora, Ren and Jaune to meet you. But we’re gonna prank Jaune!”

“How so?” she asked, a small smile on her face and twinkle of mischief in her eye.

*She’s already in and she hasn’t even heard the plan.* Ozpin sighed, but Oscar could tell he was smiling.

*That’s what makes her more fun than you.* he teased back.

*How dare you!* Ozpin gasped.

Oscar grinned mischievously, continuing his conversation with Salem, “So basically when I call for you, you're going to “attack” me. Got it?”

“Got it. I’ll be gentle though don’t worry.” she replied, her smile growing.

Like he had to worry about her hurting him. “I won’t. I trust you.” he replied easily. “Ok. I’m gonna go get the others, you wait in those bushes. Your cue is “guess she’s not here.” alright?”

When she nodded he left, this was going to be hilarious. He may have walked a little too quickly back to the others, but Jaune didn’t seem to notice his excitement. 

*Have you ever heard Jaune scream before?* Ozpin asked as they walked back to where Midnight was waiting.

*Nope, why?* Oscar asked.

Ozpin didn’t reply, he only laughed, leaving Oscar to his confusion. Soon they were close to the spot and he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “You guys will love her! Midnight’s really great!” Once they reached the spot he stopped, “Midnight! Midnight are you here?”

“Are you sure she’s here?” Nora asked after a moment.

“She might have left.” Ren chimed in.

Oscar hummed, biting his cheek to keep from laughing, “Welp. I guess she’s not here.”

There was a wild roar to his right and Oscar felt himself being tackled to the ground. He did his best not to laugh at the loud, high pitched scream that left Jaune. She growled and actually looked really menacing, he was impressed. If he didn’t know her so well he would probably be scared.

“Ok, guys. Let’s stay calm.” Jaune said, sounding terrified. “We need to get that thing away from Oscar, so follow my lead.”

Midnight snapped her head around to look at him and growled louder. Oscar should get a medal for how well he was holding back his laughter. 

*I’m really glad I let you do this now. This is hilarious.* Ozpin laughed. 

*I know right!* Oscar replied as Jaune whispered to the others. *But we should probably end it before Jaune wets his pants*

*HA!* Ozpin cried, giggling.

“Just relax Jaune.” Oscar said, calm as you please. Midnight snapped her head back to him and Jaune yelped. “I know what to do.” 

“Oscar please don’t do anything stupid.” Jaune said nervously.

Oscar grinned at Midnight and winked at her before slowly lifting his hand to scratch under Midnight’s chin. She closed her eyes and relaxed her body before falling on top of Oscar and he let out an eloquent, “Oof.”

“I… I…” Jaune stuttered. “How did you do that?”

“Easy.” Oscar wheezed, “Jaune, meet Midnight. Midnight, please get off me, you’re kind of crushing me.”

When Midnight rolled off him he sat up and stretched a bit. He glanced at Jaune as he sighed and ran a hand down his face, “Nice to meet you Midnight. I’m Jaune.”

Oscar finally burst out laughing along with Nora and Ren, when Midnight nuzzled against him he threw his arms around her neck. “You were perfect!”

“I didn’t go overboard did I?” she asked.

“No way! You were amazing!” he giggled.

“Thank you.” she said, nuzzling her cheek against his.

He grinned and stood up, brushing the snow off his pants. “Sorry Jaune. I couldn’t resist.”

“Yes.” Jaune responded, “Yes you could have. You just didn’t want to.

Oscar hummed contemplatively, “I mean… yeah.”

Jaune sighed, “Why do you do these things that you do?”

“Why do you yell at people who were just crying in front you a couple seconds ago?” Oscar shot back, a smug smile on his face.

*Ooooohhhhhh! Shots fired.* Ozpin said with a laugh.

Jaune opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. “Yeah, ok. You got me on that one.”

“So this one is the reason you came by yesterday?” Midnight asked, looking at Oscar curiously. 

“Yeah, but we’re cool now. He apologized.” Oscar replied, scratching behind her ear. Midnight leaned into the touch and Oscar smiled.

“Oscar where is Ozpin?” she suddenly asked, “He’s usually right by your side.”

“Oh! Yeah, one sec.” Oscar said, taking a deep breath. *You wanna say hi?*

*Of course I do.* Ozpin replied. Oscar performed the spells and Ozpin was next to him in dire wolf form.

He turned to look at Midnight, “Did you miss me?” he asked teasingly.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, “Not in the slightest.”

*Oooo! Burn!* Oscar thought with a laugh, though Ozpin ignored him in favor of Midnight.

Ozpin narrowed his eyes and bowed playfully at Midnight, “Is that so?”

Midnight bowed in response, “Oscar you may wish to move.”

Oscar smiled and rolled his eyes, he trotted back to his teammates. “I warn you know.” he said to the others, “This will probably be super adorable.”

The pair began their playtime with Ozpin lunging at Midnight who simply side stepped, making Ozpin face plant into the snow. They all howled with laughter at the sight, Oscar was not going to let him live this down. 

“Oh you are going down!” Ozpin growled as he charged at her again. They played for a few moments longer before Ozpin dashed behind Oscar, “Come and get me!”

Oscar looked at Midnight who nodded at him, he grinned and shifted into his foxkit form before dashing into the bushes. He wanted to hide for a potential sneak attack later. He giggled as he heard Ozpin call “Traitor!” after him.

He watched and Midnight pinned him again, they talked for a moment and Oscar could feel Ozpin terror mixed with anticipation at whatever they spoke. If that feeling, and Midnights look was anything to go by, Oscar knew exactly where this was headed. He was quickly proven right when Midnight began brushing her tail against his belly. 

Oscar grinned and snuck towards the pair, Ozpin was trying his hardest not to laugh and Oscar couldn’t have that. So he suddenly and without hesitation, nuzzled into Ozpin’s side. He giggled as they tickled the poor wizard into oblivion.

“Are they… tickling him?” Nora asked, drawing Oscar’s attention but not making him stop his tickling.

“I want to say yes… but I don’t think wolves can be ticklish.” Ren said, sounding a bit unsure.

Midnight gave him a look and he nodded. He shifted back into his human form and grabbed one of Ozpin’s back feet and began tickling it. “In our animal form we’re still able to feel and think like people. That includes ticklishness.” Oscar explained before grinning, “You guys should join in.”

*NO!* Ozpin said, vigorously shaking his head. 

*Yes!* Oscar teasingly replied. But as the others began advancing on him he pulled himself back into Oscar’s mind. Oscar laughed at the embarrassment that was coming from Ozpin. “You big baby! Can’t handle a bit of tickling!”

*Well neither can you!* he argued indignantly.

“I can handle it better than you!” he replied.

*We’ll see about that next time we get into a tickle fight!* Ozpin shot back.

Before Oscar could reply Midnight knocked him onto his butt and laid across his lap. He rolled his eyes and giggled, hugging her around her middle. She sighed happily and snuggled against him. The others sat around them, finally seeming to be comfortable around the tigress. As they sat Oscar noticed that Midnight’s face morphed into a frown, and her eyes looked sad.

“Midnight?” he asked, gently petting down her back. “You seem kind of upset. Are you ok?”

She let out a short sigh, “I’ve just had… a rather long day I suppose.”

He hummed and scratched the side of her neck, “You wanna cuddle for a while?”

“That would be lovely.” she said, leaning into the scritches.

“Are you actually talking to her?” Jaune asked, breaking the moment between them.

Oscar chuckled, “Yup.”

“How?” Nora chirped, leaning against Ren.

“Magic shenanigans.” Oscar said simply.

The other nodded sagely and repeated “Magic shenanigans.” in unison, before giggling. Oscar was happy to have this. He was almost scared that after everything that happened with Jinn no one would trust him again, or trust Oz. But now here they were, laughing and having fun together. It was nice, he liked this.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m getting cold.” Nora stated, standing and stretching.

“We should head back.” Ren agreed, also standing.

“Oscar, you coming?” Jaune asked.

Midnight growled and snuggled closer to Oscar, “No. I wish to cuddle more, and I get so lonely when you leave.”

Oscar smirked and shook his head, “Midnight wants company. And cuddles.”

*We could bring her with us.* Ozpin said, *I know a spell that could turn her into something less terrifying.*

“Wait what? We can do that?” Oscar asked, shocked.

“What is it?” Nora asked.

“Oz says that we could bring Midnight with us.” Oscar said.

Jaune looked dubious, “He uh, he does know she’s a giant tiger right?”

“We can make her not that! He says we could change her into something else! Although, this does make me wonder why we didn’t do this earlier when we first got here.” He said, slightly annoyed that Oz didn’t tell him sooner.

*I… may have forgotten to.* Ozpin said sheepishly.

“Well what are we waiting for! Let’s see some magic!” Nora cried, looking excitedly between Oscar and Midnight.

Oscar rolled his eyes with a smile and with a golden glow Ozpin was now in control. “Midnight. If you are alright with it, I would like to change your form to something less… deadly looking. You may choose your new form of course, but only if you're ok with it.”

Midnight looked at him and nodded, “Simply turn me into a house cat. I rather like being a feline after all.”

Ozpin smiled and nodded, “Alright, one house cat coming up.”

Ozpin gathered the magic in them, explaining the spell as he went along. Soon they released the magic and changed Midnight’s form. Once the spell was cast they looked at the little black cat before them, she had white paws and a white patch on her chest, and in the sunlight they would see red stripes in her fur. 

*OH MY GOSH! WE HAD A BARN CAT JUST LIKE HER BACK HOME!* Oscar gushed, making Ozpin chuckle.

“How do I look?” Midnight asked.

“Cute.” Ozpin chuckled, “Very cute.”

She stretched before quickly climbing up Ozpin and settling herself around his shoulders. “Are we heading back or not?”

Ozpin laughed as the others grinned.

“Let’s go!” Jaune called, and they all cheered as they made their way back. 

Along the way Ozpin gave control back to Oscar and shifted back into his samoyed form. As they walked back to the house they chatted, about nothing and everything. They got a few stares on their way, mostly directed at Midnight who was draped lazily around Oscar’s shoulders. 

“They keep looking at us.” she said lazily, her tail flicking.

Oscar smirked and scratched under her chin, “Don’t worry about them. They’re just jealous they don’t have a cat as pretty as you.” 

“Aww!” she cooed, nuzzling under Oscar’s chin and purring, “That’s so sweet! Thank you!”

Oscar giggled and rubbed Midnight's cheek, “Yeah yeah, calm down.”

*Why don’t you ever call me pretty?* Ozpin asked, looking sadly at Oscar.

“Oh I’m sorry Oz!” Oscar said, suddenly stopping and kneeling down to Ozpin’s level. “You’re so pretty! You’re the prettiest cloud dog in the world! Yes you are yes you are!”

*Ok. I get it, you can stop.* Ozpin said, turning his head away. But Oscar could see his tail wagging merrily. 

“Hey Oz. I’ve got a question for you.” Oscar said with a cheeky smirk.

Ozpin turned back to him, *What is it?* 

Oscar grinned, “I was just wondering… who’s a good boy?” 

*Oscar…* Ozpin warned.

“Who’s a good boy?” Oscar sang.

*Oscar. Stop.* Ozpin said, but his tail was wagging a little harder and he was starting to wiggle.

“Who’s a good boy?” Oscar grinned, smacking his thighs.

*ME!* Ozpin cried, his instincts taking control as he jumped at Oscar and began licking his face. *IT’S ME! I’M A GOOD BOY!*

“YOU! It’s you! You’re a good boy! Yes you are! You’re such a good boy!” Oscar laughed as Midnight slid off his shoulders and sat next to them, laughing at the pair.

*I’M A GOOD BOY!* Ozpin said, nuzzling Oscar and doing a happy little doggy dance. 

“Yeah! Yousa good boy!” Oscar giggled vigorously rubbing Ozpin’s cheeks.

“Are you two gonna be done soon or should we leave you behind?” Jaune asked playfully, breaking Ozpin out of his stupor. 

Ozpin sheepishly stepped away from Oscar and refused to look at him as he trotted to the house. The group laughed at his retreating form, and Oscar was sure that if he could, Oz would be blushing. Midnight clambred back up around Oscar's shoulder’s.

As they got back to the house Jaune was teasing Ozpin over the whole scenario, and Ozpin was just walking with his tail between his legs and his ears flat on his head. 

“Aww come on Oz! You were such a good boy! It’s nothing to be ashamed of!” Jaune grinned as they entered the house.

Ozpin just whined and plodded over to Qrow, placing his head on his lap. “Uh, hey Oz. What happened to him?” he looked at Oscar and quirked an eyebrow, “And where’d you get the cat?”

Oscar chuckled, “The cat is Midnight, and Oz is fine. He’s just embarrassed because he let his instinct take over for a sec.”

Qrow nodded sagely, “We’ve all been there right Oz?” Ozpin gave a doggy smile and licked Qrow’s hand. Qrow chuckled and rubbed the top of Ozpin's head, “By the way. I sent a letter to James. It should get to him in a few weeks. I say we wait awhile and if we don’t hear anything, we find another way.”

“Sounds good.” Jaune said, sitting across from Qrow. “But we can’t stay here for that long. I love my sister, and I know she would have us stay here forever if she could. But I don’t want to put that kind of strain on her. She’s got her own life, and I feel like having eight teens, a cat, a dog, an old lady and a Qrow all in the same building might get a bit… much over long periods of time.”

Qrow nodded as the others found their seats, “I know a few decent hotels in the area that allow pets. And I’ve got enough money squirreled away to pay for all of us to stay in one for a while. Plus I can take some huntsman jobs here and there.”

“Perfect! You think we could take some jobs too?” Nora asked happily.

Qrow hummed, “Not paying ones. You’re still technically students.”

“Actually.” Ren piped up, “I saw some posters for free online classes to those who had to come home after Beacon. We could take some classes and catch up on our missed studies.”

“I don’t think I can do that. But I’m sure I can find something to do while you guys study. I think I saw a library when I was out the other day.” Oscar added from his spot next to Qrow.

Qrow nodded at them all, “Then it’s a plan. I’ll check the hotels, Jaune you break the news to your sister.”

“Great.” Jaune said sarcastically.

They all laughed as the rest of their group, plus Terra and Saffron, entered the room. 

“We’re home!” Ruby called exuberantly.

Blake looked directly at Midnight, “Who’s the cat?” 

Oscar gestured to Midnight snuggled happily on his lap, “Midnight.”

Yang Looked confused, “Midnight?”

“Yup! My cat from the barn! She just showed up! Like magic!” Oscar chirped, putting emphasis on the word magic. The others nodded in understanding.

“Oh how cute!” Saffron cooed moving to pet the cat before stopping, “Can I pet her?”

Oscar looked at Midnight who nodded subtly and he nodded at Saffron in return, who grinned and began petting Midnight. Midnight stretched languidly and yawned before curling up again on Oscar’s lap. 

“I’m sorry Oscar…” Terra said, looking apologetic. “Midnight can’t stay here. I’m really allergic to cats.”

“Well that’s a perfect segway if I’ve ever heard one!” Jaune chirped, “We’re not staying!”

“You’re not?” Saffron asked confusedly.

“Nope!” Nora chimed in, “We don’t want to overstay our welcome. So we’re gonna start staying in a hotel!”

“How are you going to pay for so many people?” Terra asked.

Qrow interjected at that moment, “I’ll be taking care of that. Don’t worry.”

The next few hours were filled with chatter, Qrow looking up the hotels, and packing. Eventually Qrow found a place for them all and with promises to visit them while they were in the city, they were off. The hotel itself wasn’t too horribly far from Saffron and Terra’s place luckily. They checked in and went to their rooms. Each person was paired off, Ruby with Weiss, Yang with Blake, Ren with Jaune, Qrow with Oscar, and Nora was paired with Maria. Oz and Midnight would stay with Oscar. 

“Actual beds!” Oscar sighed as he fell onto his bed. “Oh how I’ve missed you!”

*It was only a few days ago that we were in Mistral.* Ozpin chuckled, jumping up on the bed next to Oscar.

*A few days to many in my opinion.* Oscar shot back, scratching behind Ozpin’s ears.

“I’m gonna check on the others. You good on your own?” Qrow asked, looking at Oscar curiously. 

“Am I really on my own Qrow?” Oscar asked sarcastically, gesturing to the dog at his side and cat around his shoulders.

Qrow shrugged, “Fair point. Later.” 

Once Qrow left Oscar sighed and laid back on the bed. Ozpin was quick to lay across his chest while Midnight took his stomach. He chuckled, “You two comfey?”

“Yup.” Ozpin said.

“Oh very much so.” Midnight agreed.

“Cool.” Oscar said, rolling his eyes. “So long as you two are comfortable.” 

Oscar sighed. This was nice. Actual beds, two fluffy animals to cuddle with, what could be better? Nothing probably. 

“So,” Salem began, “now what?”

“Nap time.” Oscar and Ozpin respond at the same time. 

Midnight hummed, “Welp. Majority rules.”

Oscar playfully pushed Ozpin and Midnight off him, before turning to his side and hugging Ozpin close. He saw Midnight settle on Ozpin’s back and Oscar smiled. As he snuggled with them he let out a breath, he never felt safer than he did right in this moment, snuggled up with Ozpin and Midnight, warm and safe.

He hugged Ozpin a little tighter, brothers he had really grown close to Oz since they had first met hadn’t he? He remembered when he thought he was going insane when he first heard his voice. Now he truly loved him. His guy was family, he was a lot like a papa. Hmm, that actually really fit didn’t it?

“Goodnight papa.” he said before he drifted off, leaving Ozpin to process what he had just heard. 

Ozpin tried to keep his suddenly swirling thoughts barred from Oscar, not wanting to keep him up. He felt like he was going to cry, it felt like so long since someone had called him that. And the one little word just seemed to snap something in Ozpin, but not in a bad way. He knew he loved Oscar a great deal, but hearing that, he knew exactly what he had to do. He would protect this boy with his life, no matter what.

Midnight chuckled, “It’s nice isn’t it? He did the same thing to me at the barn.”

“It certainly puts some things into perspective.” he replied quietly. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“Neither will I.” she agreed. “But we should get some rest. If we are to protect him then we should be at top performance, shouldn’t we?”

“Agreed.” he breathed, closing his eyes and letting sleep overtake him. Content in the knowledge that Oscar would be safe and protected under his and Midnight’s care. No matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	11. A Time To Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A moment of reprieve for all of the group in Argus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! Chapter 11!

Ozpin woke up before Oscar, only to find Qrow was gone again. They had been staying at the hotel for a few days now. And Ozpin had noticed a pattern forming, Qrow was always awake when Ozpin fell asleep, but would either be awake or gone when he woke up. He had been less chatty with the others and seemed to just disappear for a majority of the day before showing up again at the end of it. The only thing that lessened Ozpin’s worries a bit, was the fact that Qrow never came back smelling too much like alcohol. He was glad for that at least. Small blessings and all.

Midnight woke up a short time later, kneading his back slightly and yawning. He licked the side of her face in greeting and she blinked slowly at him. They didn’t usually talk in the mornings, both were far too tired anyway. Ozpin found it a bit amusing how both he and Midnight seemed not to be morning people, yet they woke before sunrise every morning. He settled down to possibly catch a bit more sleep when he noticed Oscar twitch in his sleep, and a feeling of dread came over him.

He lifted his head, ear perking up to attention as he looked at Oscar. The boy’s face was twisted in discomfort and he looked to be sweating. Ozpin shared a concerned look with Midnight as Oscar’s face twisted further, from discomfort to fear to sorrow. His twitching grew in intensity and his head shook back and forth his mouth moving wordlessly. Ozpin watched close and saw he was mouthing “No.” and “Please.” over and over. 

Ozpin quickly shuffled closer to Oscar and gently licked his face, sending words of encouragement and feelings of care to the boy through their bond. Midnight went to his other side and butted her head against his cheek, purring comfortingly and nuzzling him. Oscar seemed to calm slightly at this and his eyes opened blearily.

“Whapu?” he slurred, sitting up and blinking lethargically. His hair sticking out in every direction and making Ozpin laugh slightly.

“You had a bad dream.” Midnight said softly clambering onto Oscar’s lap.

“I… did.” he said slowly. “I was back with my parents, but it wasn’t them. It was you two. And there was fire, and Hazel was there… he’s the one that-”

“Hush.” Ozpin said, gently putting a paw on Oscar’s shoulder. “It’s alright now Oscar. You’re alright now.”

Oscar looked at him, tears forming in his eyes but not falling, and he hugged him. Ozpin hugged back as best he could in this form. What he wouldn’t give to be human again, to truly hug Oscar and soothe his fears. But he was lucky enough to have a physical form at all, so he would take what he could get.

“I love you.” Oscar murmured into Ozpin’s fur. Ozpin stiffened, but only for a moment before he relaxed in Oscar’s hold.

“I love you too.” he replied, nuzzling into Oscar with a content sigh. He waited for Oscar to pull back then licked his cheek. “Would you like to try and get more rest? It is still early. I don’t think anyone besides us and Qrow are awake.” 

Oscar frowned at that, noting how early it was. “Didn’t Qrow go to sleep after us?” Oscar paused for a moment as he thought over the last few days. “And have you guys noticed how he’s been kinda… distant lately.” 

“Yes, he has. But this can be worried about later. When all of us are more awake, and not just recovering from a nightmare.” Midnight said, putting her paws on Oscar’s chest and nuzzling her head under his chin. “I say we get a bit more sleep. You’re a growing boy after all. And growing boys need their rest.”

Oscar laughed softly and petted down her back, “Sorry, but I think I’m too awake now to go back to sleep.” 

“Then I suppose we should get food. Can’t start the day on an empty stomach, right?” she replied, ending her statement but moving her paws back onto his legs and nuzzling his belly.

Oscar giggled and pushed her off his lap, “No, it is way too early for tickles.”

“Why Oscar,” Ozpin said, nosing the teens' side, making him giggle further, “It’s never too early for tickles.”

Oscar tried to push him away, but was thwarted when Midnight managed to nuzzle under his shirt and tickle his other side. He barked out a laugh and tried to squirm away. Ozpin just nosed at his ribs and Oscar squealed wiggling the other way to escape the tickles. Eventually with both the animals tickling him, he had managed to wiggle right to the edge of the bed. 

“Stahahap! Guys come ohohohon! Please! Ah! No! Stop it! Hahaha!” he giggled, squirming even further, when gravity finally ended the fun and he tumbled off the bed. “Oof.”

Ozpin poked his head over to check on the teen, “Are you alright?” 

“Just dandy.” he deadpanned.

Midnight and Ozpin then burst into giggles of their own as Oscar stood and dusted himself off. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his clothes before heading to the bathroom to change and take a quick shower. 

“So, Ozpin.” Midnight asked, lounging lazily on the bed, “Why do you think Qrow has been so distant?”

“I’m not sure.” he replied, “It could be a great number of things, his semblance, a need for time to himself, he could just be avoiding me or the children. I can’t truly be sure as of yet.”

She nodded, “I see. I just hope it’s nothing too dire.”

“I’m sure it's nothing too horrid.” he said, though whether he was trying to convince himself or her was anyone's guess. 

“He called you papa the other night.” she said suddenly. The change in subject throwing Ozpin a bit off balance.

“I-well-uh… yes. I suppose he did.” he managed to stutter out, though a smile formed on his face at the memory. 

“It was sweet. I remember when he did that to me back at the farm. He truly cares for you, you know.” she said, smiling at him softly.

Ozpin huffed out a brief laugh, “I truly care for him too.” he sighed “I just wish he had never been brought into this. He doesn’t deserve to be a part of this war.”

Midnight looked away from him, seemingly contemplating. “I agree.” and she left it at that.

Soon Oscar came back out, dressed in his new combat gear with his hair poofy and clean. “You guys wanna see if the others are ready for breakfast?” 

“It’s still rather early.” Ozpin mused, “And if their time at school and in Haven is anything to go by, then they are still fast asleep.”

Oscar sighed and sat back down on the bed, “Fair point. Well what should we do until they get up?” 

Ozpin looked at Midnight who grinned and he nodded, “Well, I can think of… one thing.” 

Midnight slid up next to Oscar and grinned, “Yes, one thing that we didn’t quite finish earlier.”

Oscar looked between the two, but before he could escape Ozpin pushed him down onto the bed, and the tickling began anew. 

It was an undetermined amount of time later when there was a knock on the door, “Oscar? Uncle Qrow? Are you guys up?” the muffled voice of Ruby called.

“Ruby are you kidding me? You can hear him laughing three doors down! Of course they're awake!” Nora replied, “Hey! Stop destroying Oscar! We’re getting breakfast!”

“What do you say Midnight? Should we let him up?” Ozpin asked, his tail brushing Oscar’s belly.

“We should let him eat with the others. All this laughing has probably built quite the appetite after all.” she replied, gently nuzzling his neck as her tail brushed his ear.

Oscar just squeaked and laughed while vigorously nodding his head and wiggling. 

“Very well. But Oscar, don’t you dare think this is the last you will see of the tickle monster.” Ozpin teased, his tail brushing Oscar’s ribs before he and Midnight finally stopped.

Oscar laid on the bed for a few moments, letting the giggles die down and catching his breath. “You… you two, are so evil.”

“We will start again.” Midnight warned, her tail waving menacingly in the air.

Oscar giggled and curled into a ball, “Noho! I take it back! Just leave me alone!”

Ozpin and Midnight laughed and let him relax before he finally got up, slightly wobbly, and walked to the door. “Hey guys. Sorry about that, Midnight and Oz were feeling… particularly playful this morning.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“No problem!” Nora grinned.

“Yeah, we get it! Now come on! This place has free continental breakfast and a waffle station!” Ruby beamed, grabbing Oscar’s hand and pulling him to the breakfast area.

Ozpin hopped off the bed, yawned, shook himself off, and stretched before following Oscar. Midnight was right at his side, trotting along happily with her tail in the air. It had somewhat surprised Ozpin that no one had said anything about their lack of proper collars, but he didn’t mind. He was very happy with his bandana and glasses, thank you very much. 

Upon reaching the breakfast area he saw that all the other children were there, seeming to stick mostly towards the back corner of the room. Yang, Blake, and Weiss were already sitting together with their food, along with Jaune, Ren, and Maria. Ruby, Nora, and Oscar though were still getting their food, Nora seemed rather keen on getting a bit of everything. 

Ozpin trotted over to the table housing Jaune, Ren, and Maria (JRM for germ? Maria would hate that, so he was calling it that). He laid at Jaune’s feet and waited for Oscar, not entirely saying no to the scraps of bacon and such that Ren and Jaune slipped him every now and again. Midnight, he noted, had gone straight to Oscar. Draping herself once again across his shoulders. She appeared to be pointing out things she would like and Ozpin snorted a bit. 

*You won’t forget to get me something will you?* Ozpin asked amusedly.

*Now how could I ever forget about you Oz? You’re literally in my head, if I forgot something, you’d let me know.* Oscar shot back, sticking his tongue out as Ozpin briefly. 

Ozpin huffed, *You need to learn to respect your elders.*

He saw Oscar roll his eyes, *You may have a point. After all, you are like a bajillion years old.*

*Were it not for the laws of this land I would have slaughtered you.* Ozpin deadpanned, making Oscar snort hard into his glove.

Their banter continued on for several more minutes before Oscar came by and placed his and Midnight’s plates down for them. Ozpin gave Oscar a smile and began eating. He listened idly to the sounds of the children and Maria chatting and laughing. It warmed his heart to hear them still sound so joyous, even after all their hardships. Hardships that he had created. 

He sighed a bit. It was his fault they were all here, team RWBY, team JNR, Oscar, even Maria and Qrow. He had dragged them into this war, and now there was likely no getting out. It hurt to keep meeting such wonderful people, to see them grow and become so much more than they thought they were. But at the back of his mind he knew, one day he would outlive them all. Either in this life or the next. It hurt so much and he had done it a thousand times before. Most likely he would do it a thousand more. Even if with each life he stole, he prayed it would be the last. It never was though. Possible never would be.

*You know I can feel what you feel right? You’re kinda bumming me out. What’s wrong?* Oscar piped up, startling Ozpin out of his reverie.

*Just… thoughts. Musing of an old soul.* he replied.

Oscar hummed, *Dangerous things, thoughts. Especially for you. Maybe ease up on the nihilism a bit? Not everything is always so doom and gloom. How can they be when we live in a world where waffles exist?* 

Ozpin laughed softly, *I suppose you're right.*

*You’d be surprised at how often that turns out to be the case.* Oscar shot back, making Ozpin snort.

“Hey Oscar?” Nora suddenly said, “Do you know where Qrow is? He’s been weird lately.”

“You noticed? I thought I was going crazy.” Jaune chimed in, sounding relieved. Though the fact that the other children had noticed Qrow’s increasingly aloof nature did little to ease Ozpin’s growing worries. 

Yang and Ruby looked at each other worriedly, but said nothing. 

Maria hmphed, “Well if he wants to avoid everyone that’s his own choice. You kids shouldn’t worry about him. He’s a grown up… sort of. He can make his own decisions. And when he’s ready to stop being a baby and talk to someone, he will.”

“Maria is right. He will come to us in his own time.” Ren added, “We should focus on our own mission. We’re enrolling in online classes today, remember.”

The other kids groaned and Oscar giggled, “You guys have fun with that. I’m gonna hang out in the library.” 

Maria smirked at him, “Well before you do that, we have a little something for you.”

“What is it?” he asked, mildly excited.

Ruby took out a little box from her skirt pocket (Oscar didn’t even know she had skirt pockets), and handed it to him. “We don’t want to lose contact with you again. So we got you this.”

Oscar smiled and opened the box, revealing a brand new scroll. “You all got me a scroll?” he asked, surprised. 

Nora grinned at him, “Well we don’t want you to disappear again! So boom! New scroll! Do you like it?”

Oscar beamed at the group and nodded, “I love it! Thank you all so much!”

“Just promise to call us when you feel like running off somewhere ok?” Jaune asked, playfully ruffling Oscar’s hair.

Oscar giggled and waved him off, “Yeah ok. I promise.” 

“Great!” Nora cheered, “Now cute boy Oz will never go missing again!” 

The group laughed before finally finishing their food. Once all was said and done teams RWBY and JNR went with Oscar to the library to sign up for online classes, Oscar had Ozpin silently shift into a mouse and hide in his pocket. His plan was to pass Midnight as his emotional support cat, hopefully that would work. 

The library was a fairly large building, and entering it Oscar was left in awe at the sheer amount of books. The library back home wasn’t so much of an actual library, it was actually a library mobile. A big van that Miss.Poppy drove by every week. Oscar hoped she was doing well. 

“I can die happy.” he whispered in awe. 

“You book worm.” Midnight teased, butting her head against his cheek. 

“Leave him alone. He can’t help being a huge nerd.” Ozpin added with a chuckle.

“Ruby I think I’m being bullied.” Oscar quietly deadpanned, making her look at him curiously. “Oz and Midnight are making fun of me for liking books. Oz said I was a nerd.” 

A look of understanding came over her face, “Well if liking books makes you a nerd then he’s a nerd too. If that guy wasn’t in his office he was in the library. And he had a huge bookcase in his office. Plus, it would make all of team RWBY nerds.”

“Really?” Oscar asked in shock.

“Yup. Blake loves books, Yang loves books, I love books. You get it.” she giggled softly. 

Oscar grinned back at her, “At least I know I’m surrounded by fellow nerds.” 

They giggled together before Oscar had to break off from the group. They went to the computer lab and he wandered around the library, just taking in the sheer size of the place. He eventually settled in the fantasy section, plucked a random book, and settled in a corner on the floor to read. He sat there in the relative quiet of the library, simply reading and enjoying the peace. A few hours later, he had all but devoured several books when his stomach growled and he blushed. 

“Looks like it’s time for lunch.” Ozpin chuckled.

“Yup.” Oscar replied, taking out his scroll and checking the time, “Definitely.” 

Midnight and Ozpin laughed as they left the library, shooting a quick text to the others to let them know he was leaving. He blinked in the sudden sunlight and took a breath, it was a lovely day out. 

They got lunch from a nearby place and sat on the steps of the library. He was sharing with Ozpin and Midnight when an orange and gold cat with a knick in the ear walked up to him. It looked at him curiously before quickly snatching his sandwich and dashing off. 

“Hey!” Oscar called, taking off after the cat. 

“Oscar this is unnecessary! Even if you catch it then you can’t eat the sandwich!” Ozpin crowed from Oscar’s rapidly bouncing jacket pocket.

“It’s the principle of the thing Oz!” Oscar replied, following the cat closely. 

Finally the cat ran into an alleyway and when Oscar skidded to a halt he was surprised to find another cat there. A kitten actually. It was tiny, had dirty and slightly matted fur, and the biggest blue eyes Oscar had ever seen.

“I…” he started before the older cat hissed at him.

“Get out of here! Go away, human!” it yowled, it’s hackles rising.

Oscar put his hands up, “Whoa whoa, ok, I’ll go but. Just give me a sec ok?”

Oscar quickly left the alley and ran into a nearby store, he grabbed a water bottle, a bowl, and some lunch meat. Once he bought his items he ran back to the alley, “Here. I’m sorry I chased you like that. I didn’t realize you were getting food for two.”

He set the bowl slowly on the ground and poured the water into it, sliding it cautiously to the older cat and kitten. He took out a piece of ham and set it next to the water then sat away from the two, giving them space to eat. The older cat eyed him suspiciously before sniffing the water and bringing the kitten to it. They drank and ate until they seemed full and the older cat looked at Oscar curiously.

“You are an odd human.” the older on said, gently keeping the kitten from getting closer to Oscar.

“Yeah, I hear that alot.” Oscar smiled, “But it’s boring being normal, so I think I prefer odd.”

The cat looked shocked, “Can you… understand me?”

“Yup!” Oscar chriped. 

“...huh.” they responded. “That’s… unusual.”

“Yeah. So… what’s your name?” Oscar asked, only slightly awkward.

“Alberon. The little one is Opal. Who are you?” Alberon asked, leaning forward to sniff Oscar a bit.”

“Oh, I’m Oscar. The cat on my shoulder is Midnight and,” he took out Ozpin “this is Ozpin. Please don’t try to eat him.” 

Ozpin glared back at him, “Really?”

“You’re a mouse right now Oz.” Oscar deadpanned, but his face softened when the kitten, Opal, came up to his foot. “Hi there. You’re… unreasonably cute.”

“Don’t mind her. She’s only a month old, I found her in the trash. Some humans are just…” Alaberon said looking away from Oscar, his tail flicking agitatedly. 

“I know.” he said softly. “Some people are just horrible.”

Alberon blinked, “Yes, some are.”

Oscar looked between the kitten at his feet and the cat before him, “Say… do you want to come back with me? I’m staying in a hotel right now with my friends. You could sleep there until we go to Atlas.”

Alberon seemed to perk up at the end, “You’re going to Atlas?”

Oscar tilted his head, “Yeah, why?”

“I’m… from there. I used to be a military cat, my job was to catch the mice in the buildings. But I took a nap in the wrong place and ended up here. It’s been so long since I’ve been home, I miss it, I miss my human.”

“You had a human?” Oscar asked, gently lifting Opal into his lap and petting down her back.

“He was one of the best cadets in the army. He was a born leader, and took care of me. Even let me sleep on his lap sometimes.” Alberon mused, his eyes softening into something sad.

Oscar hummed, “If you want, you can come with us. Maybe we can find your human.” 

“Jamie has probably forgotten all about me by now. It’s been a long time.” Alberon sighed. 

“You never know, you wanna at least try?” Oscar asked hopefully.

Alberon looked at him and huffed, “Fine. If nothing else it’ll get Opal off the street for a bit.”

Oscar smiled at them and gestured for them to follow, “I don’t know if they’ll actually let you in, so we’ll have to sneak you in. I could probably get Opal in with my pocket, and I could sneak you in through the window.” 

Alberon looked skeptical but nodded, Oscar smiled back and gently slipped Opal into the pocket not housing Ozpin. Alberon trotted behind Oscar as he walked back to the hotel room, texting the group what was going on. When they reached the hotel Oscar stopped and knelt in front of Alberon.

“I’ll put my cane in my window so you know which room is ours, ok?” Oscar said, nodding to the hotel.

Alberon nodded and ran off, most likely to scope out the area. Oscar slipped into the hotel, waved at the person behind the desk, and trotted into the room. He quickly set his cane in the window and took Ozpin and Opal out of his pockets. Midnight slipped off his shoulder and stretched while yawning.

“This is certainly an interesting development.” she said, sounding quite amused. “I wonder what the others will think of our new guests.”

“I’m sure they’ll love them. Maybe we should ask one of them to get some supplies for them. This little one seems to need a bath” Ozpin said, deftly shifting back into his samoyed form. Opal squeaked and puffed herself up, looking totally shocked. Oscar giggled and gently patted her head.

“It’s alright Opal. He’s just a magic dog.” Oscar said with a soft laugh. Opal looked at him, and then back at Ozpin. She slowly walked over him and bopped his nose before running away. Ozpin chuckled and put his head on the bed, flopping his ears up and down, drawing Opal’s attention. She again slowly made her way to him, jumping at his ears before falling gracelessly off and landing in a heap. 

The trio laughed, but a tapping at the window drew Oscar’s attention. He looked over and saw Alberon at the window. He quickly moved to the window and opened it, allowing the older cat entry. 

“Who’s the dog?” he asked upon seeing Ozpin, though looking at the way Ozpin was playing with Opal he seemed to relax.

“That’s Ozpin. He’s magic.” Oscar said simply.

Alberon looked confused but sighed, “This day is already so strange. This might as well happen.”

Oscar laughed and moved back over to his bed, “Well make yourself at home I guess.” 

Alberon nodded and deftly leapt over to where Opal and Ozpin were playing. Oscar looked between the two of them, and instantly felt bad for the cleaning staff. “Maybe we should get you two cleaned up.” 

“Perhaps.” Alberon said, looking at his dirty fur. 

“Come on, let’s get you guys in the tub.” Oscar said, gesturing for the older cat to follow as he gently lifted the wiggling kitten in his hand. He took them into the bathroom and turned on the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot or too cold. Once it was filled enough Oscar gently placed the pair in the tub. Opal let out a tiny kitten scream and tried to move out of the tub, Oscar smiled and quickly set about cleaning her up. Alberon seemed to actually enjoy the water, simply sitting in it and swishing his tail lazily in the water. 

Oscar had to drain and refill the tub a few times, but eventually he managed to get both cats totally cleaned up. He felt pretty lucky that neither one had ticks or fleas. Taking them out of the tub, he towel dried them both as best he could before letting Alberon lick the last of the water off himself and Opal. 

Once Oscar put Opal back on the bed she darted over to Ozpin, scrambled onto his head, and curled up. Ozpin looked rather pleased and didn’t move, not wanting to disturb the precious bundle on his head, but Oscar heard his tail thumping happily on the ground. Oscar rolled his eyes and laughed, rubbing the top of Midnight’s head. 

“So you’re free to stay here till we leave. If you want you can stay with us in Atlas until you find who you're looking for.” Oscar offered, smiling warmly at the older cat.

“Thank you.” Alberon said, looking fondly at Opal, “She seems to already have endeared herself to him, so we can stay for awhile.”

“You’re welcome here for as long as you like.” Oscar said.

Midnight hummed, “You just keep finding animal friends don’t you?”

Oscar shrugged with a smile. “What can I say. I’m loveable to all walks of life.”

Ozpin and Midnight laughed, startling Opal and making her scramble to Alberons side. Ozpin looked sheepish, “Apologizes, I didn’t mean to frighten her.”

“It’s fine. She’s just a bit skittish being in a new place with new people.” the abyssinian said, gently grooming the top of Opal’s head. 

Oscar looked a bit concerned, “Why don’t I get you guys some water? It might help a bit.” 

While Oscar was in the bathroom getting the water, Midnight slid up to Ozpin. “You know, I can probably think of a way to help ease her worries somewhat. While also allowing you to exact your vengeance on Oscar for making you look like a fool yesterday. Remember how he made you a “good boy” Ozpin?”

Ozpin looked at her, clearly intrigued, “Alright, I’m listening.”

“You turned me into a house cat, why not do the same for Oscar? I’m thinking something small and utterly adorable.” Midnight grinned, mischief twinkling in her eyes.

“Oh you are evil.” Ozpin replied with a wide grin, “Let’s do it.”

Soon Oscar returned to the main room with two shallow bowls of water in his hands. He put them both on the ground and gently placed Opal there, while Alberon simply jumped. 

“Oh Oscar?” Ozpin called cheerily, “I’d like to try something with you. To make Opal a little more comfortable.”

“What is it?” Oscar asked, curiously.

“Remember what we did to Midnight?” he asked with a grin.

“...yes.” Oscar replied looking directly at Midnight.

Ozpin smiled at him, “What if we did that with you? Turned you into a house cat, to make her feel more comfortable?” 

“Would I be able to turn back?” he asked.

“Yes, you would. Would you like to try?” Ozpin said, already gearing up to use the spell.

Oscar looked unsure, “Wouldn’t that diminish your magic?” 

“Not if it’s going to you. It’s like a circle, if I send magic to you, when we merge again, it will go back to me. Make sense?” Ozpin explained.

“I guess.” Oscar said, still sounding a bit confused, “But I suppose if it makes Opal more comfortable then… ok. Let’s do it.”

“Wonderful!” Ozpin grinned, “Let’s begin.”

Ozpin gathered the magic in him and let it wash over Oscar, shifting his form to something smaller, and a lot cuter. Soon the spell was complete and Ozpin lay on his stomach, barely holding back giggles. “How do you feel?” he asked.

“Why am I this tiny?” Oscar asked, “I’m even smaller than my fox form! What gives?”

Midnight appeared to be holding back her own giggles, “Look in the mirror.” 

Oscar looked at her confused but trotted over to the mirror, noting that his legs felt very very short. When he finally saw himself in the floor length mirror on the wall, he turned to glare at Ozpin and Midnight. 

“Seriously? A munchkin cat?” he deadpanned, looking ten types of done with the whole situation. 

“A munchkin kitten to be exact.” Midnight said before she finally burst out laughing, joined quickly by Ozpin. 

Oscar sighed, “You could have warned me ya know.” 

Ozpin giggled, “I said you would be a house cat! You never asked which one! Consider this payback for your little “good boy” stunt the other day.” 

Oscar groaned, “Is that what this is about? I’m sorry ok? Can I please be something a little less… cute?”

Midnight grinned, “Nope, I think you need to live with this one Oscar. Plus, you're cute no matter what form you take. Fox, human, kitten, doesn’t matter.”

“Always cute as a button.” Ozpin finished, grinning at Oscar.

“You both suck.” he huffed, but dropped the issue when Opal walked up to him and began sniffing him. “Hi Opal, it’s still me. Oscar.”

She looked at him and slowly blinked, he slowly blinked back and she nuzzled under his chin while purring. Midnight giggled, “Well, she certainly seems to have calmed down now.”

“I think she likes me.” Oscar said, as Opal ran her body under his chin while purring.

Alberon smiled a bit, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her warm up to people so fast.”

Ozpin hummed, “Oscar has a way of making animals like him. A grimm tiger, a Qrow, me. And now you and Opal.” 

“I never said I liked him.” Alberon said quickly, his smile quickly falling.

Ozpin and Midnight looked at each other and said in unison, “For now.” 

Oscar’s giggle drew their attention, it seemed Opal way nuzzling at his side, “Guys! Help! She’s tickling me!”

“Consider this part of my payback.” Ozpin smirked, as Oscar giggled and fell onto his back. She hopped onto him and initiated a mini wrestling match. The older animals in the room watched amusedly as Oscar and Opal played and wrestled through the room.

Eventually Oscar and Opal were stopped when Oscar accidentally ran into Ozpin. The samoyed nuzzled the both of them, making Oscar laugh and Opal wiggle around happily. Ozpin eventually stopped and Oscar shifted back to his human self, laying back on the bed. 

“Ok, ok.” he yawned, “That’s enough of that. I don’t know if it’s the whole cat thing or what, but I’m ready for a nap.”

“It seems you’re not the only one.” Midnight chuckled as Opal curled up on Oscar’s stomach. 

Ozpin laughed softly and jumped up next to Oscar, nuzzling into his side. Midnight snuggled on his other side and Alberon curled at the foot of the bed. Ozpin heard two whisperers as he drifted off, “Night papa.” from Oscar, and “nigh-night Ozzy.” from Opal. Ozpin let out a breath, looks like he was adopting another adorable little person… or cat in this case. Lovely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	12. Time For A Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to find out what's going on with Qrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suicidal themes in this episode, I just need to warn y'all. And talks of hating one's self, wishing death on ones self, and a lot of arguments, also talks and mentions of alcoholism. It all has a happy ending though I promise!

A few days had passed since Opal and Alberon came to live with them, Opal had really integrated herself into the group. Specifically with Ozpin, Midnight, and Oscar. All and all things were going pretty great, but there was a cloud hanging over the group. Several clouds actually, the war with Salem, when James would get back to them, but most currently? It was Qrow’s sudden pull away from the group.

Qrow was becoming more and more distant with each day. Taking longer missions, and some nights just not coming back to the hotel, without a word to anyone. He was worrying Ruby and Yang most of all, the poor girls fretted horribly when Qrow didn’t return their messages. Ozpin could hear Ruby’s near silent sobs some nights, and it broke his heart. Which is what led to his decision today. He was putting his proverbial foot down. He and Qrow had been avoiding each other, and Qrow had been avoiding everything in general, for far to long.

“Qrow.” Ozpin said, currently in control of Oscar’s body while Opal napped on his lap. “I would like to accompany you on your next mission.”

“No.” Qrow shot down quickly.

But Ozpin was not going to be pushed aside so easily, “Let me rephrase. I AM going with you on your next mission.”

Qrow glared at him, “Let me rephrase, HELL no.”

“Qrow. I know you hate working with others, and I know you're probably still… upset with me.” Ozpin said with a sigh, gently petting down Opal’s back, “But… you can’t keep pushing everyone away. I’ve done that for so long, it’s a lonely and painful life. And you don’t deserve that.”

“Who the fuck are you to tell me what I deserve?” Qrow growled at him, eyes blazing.

Ozpin sighed, “I am no one. But they don’t think you deserve a life like that either.”

Qrow backed down a bit at that, “They don’t know anything.”

“They know that they love you. And they know the pain in their hearts when you push them away.” Ozpin said softly. “Qrow they adore you, please don’t keep doing this to them.”

Qrow looked at him, and all at once the fire left his eyes and she sagged in on himself. “Fine. Whatever. You can come with. But I’m gonna be focusing on my own shit got it?”

Ozpin smiled, “Understood. I look forward to our mission together. I’m actually rather excited. It feels like far too long since I’ve really been out in the field.”

“Yay.” Qrow said sarcastically. “We leave first thing tomorrow. Be ready.”

Ozpin nodded, “As you wish.” He watched Qrow walk into the bathroom and sighed, giving Oscar back control. 

*Did you see the bags under his eyes?* Oscar questioned. *He doesn’t look like he should be doing anything first thing in the morning besides sleeping.* 

Ozpin nodded in agreement, having changed back into a Samoyed. *I agree but there’s not much I can do. You saw how difficult it was to get him to agree on letting me join his mission. I’d rather not push my luck too much.* 

*Fair. Ya know, you kinda left me trapped here. I can’t exactly move with a sleepy kitten on my lap.* Oscar said, gesturing to said sleepy kitten on his lap.

*That sounds like a personal problem.* Ozpin replied, a bit too smug for Oscar’s liking.

*You’re a menace.* the farm boy said, rolling his eyes.

Ozpin gave him a look, *You’re in a rather compromising spot Oscar, should you really be calling names?* 

Oscar glared at him but said no more, making Ozpin laugh softly. The rest of their day passed normally enough, Oscar and the others went to the library, and Qrow took off on either a short mission or somewhere else. At the end of the day they all crammed together in one of the rooms to eat dinner together. 

Currently they were playing with Opal, each of them taking turns with a piece of string that she chased and batted at. Alberon joined in every now and again, but he seemed pretty content to just relax on Oscar’s lap. 

“So... Ozpin is going with Qrow on his mission tomorrow.” Oscar said, petting down Alberons back.

The group looked at him in shock, “How’d you manage that?” Nora was first to ask.

“Magic.” Oscar said automatically. But when the others looked at him suspiciously he raised his hands in surrender, “Kidding. Kidding. Ozpin kinda guilt tripped him.”

*I did not!* Ozpin protested.

“You kinda did.” Oscar replied, giving Ozpin a flat look.

*Well… it wasn’t intentional.* the wizard replied, crossing his paws over his face.

Ruby looked a bit pensive, “Professor?”

Ozpin looked at her, nodding in head and letting her know he was listening.

“Just… take care of him, ok?” she said, hugging herself and looking at the floor.

Ozpin hopped down from his spot behind Oscar and trotted over to her. He put his head on her lap, looking up at her. She looked at him and gave a soft smile before softly petting his head. *Oscar would you mind telling her that I won’t let anything happen to Qrow? And that she has nothing to fear?*

*Sure thing.* Oscar nodded, relaying Ozpin’s message.

Ruby’s smile grew a bit, “Thank you professor Ozpin. I really appreciate it.”

Ozpin nodded and settled by her feet, as the chatter restarted. They were planning to take the day off tomorrow to explore Argus a bit more, Ozpin almost wished he was joining them. Almost. He was genuinely excited to be going on a mission. He was sadly left off the field most days as a headmaster, so this was exciting!

Soon it was time for bed, and as Oscar was showering and getting ready in the bathroom, Opal settled herself on Ozpin’s head. She leaned her head forward to look him in the eyes as best she could. “Wher’ Ozzy goin?” she asked innocently.

“On a mission. I’ll be back though.” Ozpin replied.

“Why?” she asked, making Ozpin sigh.

“Because I’m worried about Qrow and I want to go with him.” he replied.

“Why?” she asked.

He took a breath, “Because he’s my friend.”

“Why?” 

“Because I’ve known him for a long time.”

“Why?”

“Because I was his teacher.”

“Why?”

“Midnight, save me.” he pleaded, looking at the cat lounging next to him.

“But why?” she grinned back.

He gave her a withering look, “You’re not as funny as you think.”

“I think I’m hilarious.” she replied smugly.

“Why?” Opal asked, now looking at Midnight.

Ozpin looked smugly at her, “Yeah, why Midnight?” 

She glared at him and the game began anew, only ending when Oscar came back out. Opal darted over to him and hopped onto his pants, climbing up until she reached his shoulder. Oscar laughed and scratched under her chin. She purred and leaned into the scritches, losing her balance and falling off Oscar’s shoulder before he caught her.

“Careful Opal. Don’t want you to hurt yourself.” he chuckled, putting her back on his shoulder.

She purred louder and nuzzled against his neck, “Thank you big brother!” 

Oscar looked at her a bit shocked but he smiled, “Any time Opal. But it’s time for bed now, alright?”

“Ok!” she chirped, letting Oscar put her back on the bed. She quickly darted to Alberon and snuggled to his side. Alberon smiled softly at her and nodded at Oscar. Oscar nodded back with a grin as he settled down next to Ozpin.

“Night Oz. Good luck on your mission tomorrow.” he said as he snuggled up against Ozpin’s side.

Ozpin licked the boy's face, “Goodnight Oscar, and thank you. I’ll keep you informed as we go along ok?”

“Alright, love you.” Oscar yawned before slipping off to sleep.

Ozpin snuggled against Oscar, “I love you too my dear.”

Ozpin woke to someone shaking him, he shot his head up and blinked blearily. “Hu wha?” 

“Wake up, we’re going.” Qrow said roughly. He was already fully dressed, making Ozpin wonder if he even went to bed last night. 

“Alright. Let’s go then.” he carefully moved out of the bed, feeling horrible when Oscar whined and appeared to search for him. *I’ll be back my dear. Rest now*

Oscar seemed to settle a bit at that and shifted himself to put his arm around Midnight. Ozpin let out a breath and quickly followed Qrow out of the room, sparring a quick final glance at Oscar before leaving. Ozpin was prepared to stop for a quick breakfast but was worried when Qrow seemed to walk by every place that would offer food. 

“Qrow?” he asked.

“I don’t speak dog, remember?” Qrow growled, making Ozpin’s ears flatten. He was starting to regret this a bit. “Just keep quiet until we get there. I’ll explain then.”

Ozpin nodded and trotted along next to Qrow, he was now already missing Oscar. They walked in relative silence for the rest of the journey, Ozpin wondering if there was some way to speak to Qrow easily. There was always Qrow’s bird form, but they couldn’t have the whole mission like that. Maybe he could write in the snow, yeah, that could work. At least until he found something a little more streamline. 

“We’re here.” Qrow said, stopping in the middle of the forest, and Ozpin took his as his que to shift into his dire wolf form. 

Ozpin trotted forward a bit and grabbed a stick with his mouth. He began writing in the snow, getting a weird look from Qrow the whole time. When he was done he looked at Qrow, gesturing for Qrow to read what he wrote.

Qrow gave him a weird look but read his message out loud, “What is our mission?” his mouth made an O shape and he nodded, “There’s been reports of Manticores being taken over by tentacle grimm in this area. We’re here to find them and get rid of ‘em.”

Ozpin nodded and began writing another message but Qrow quickly stopped him with a hand on his head. “No. I’ll make this easier on us both.” He then shifted into his crow form and settled on a branch a bit ahead of Ozpin.

“They only sent a single huntsman for this? And a dog?” he asked with a tilted head.

“I asked to go alone. You were a surprise.” Qrow replied. “I can handle this just fine on my own. But you were just so insistent on coming.” he rolled his eyes at the end there.

Ozpin snorted, if Qrow wanted to be childish then fine. “Where was the last place the Grimm were seen.”

“Around here. But what was that?” Qrow asked, his feathers puffing a bit in clear anger.

“What was what?” Ozpin asked, knowing what Qrow was referring to.

Qrow glared at him, “That snort. You got a problem Oz? Cause if you do, I’d rather you say it to my face. But… then again. You’ve never been very good at being straight with people have you?”

Ozpin flinched a bit at that, “I’m sorry.”

“Brothers will you stop with that apology crap? I’m sick of hearing empty apologies from people!” Qrow growled angrily, “Oh Qrow, I’m sorry I lied to you for decades about my psycho ex-wife! Oh Qrow I’m sorry about your friends that died that I never met! Oh Qrow I’m sorry that you're such a failure! I’ve heard it all before and I’m sick of it. So if you're going to say sorry, then just can it!”

Ozpin bristled now, “You’re sick of hearing apologies? Well I’m sick of hearing about all your damn issues! Oh, Ozpin Qrows passed out drunk on the steps of the school again. Oh Ozpin, I’m such a failure, no one loves me! Except surprise Qrow! A lot of people love you! I understand that it’s difficult to pull-”

Qrow cut him off, “Oh you get it? You understand? Bullshit! You don’t know a damn thing! All you are is talk!” he scoffed, “Qrow I totally understand what it’s like to grow-up being hated for existing! I know what it’s like having a semblance that can only hurt people! I totally understand you! Fuck off with that bullshit ok Oz? And for you to come at me with any judgment about my actions is kinda bull at this point.”

“Do you ever listen to me?” Ozpin growled, “Or are you so lost looking for the bottom of the bottle that you can’t even hear me?”

“Fuck you! You have no right to judge me you cocksucker!” Qrow shouted.

“But you have every right to judge me? Ok, I see how it is.” Ozpin scoffed.

Qrow growled, “I actually can judge you! Cause while my actions are shitty, at least they aren’t putting the fucking world in danger! And hey, it's not like I stuck my dick in crazy!” 

“I WAS PROTECTING THE WORLD!” Ozpin shouted back, “Do you have any idea how tired of all this bullshit I am? Thousands of years-”

“And not shit to show for it! You don’t have a plan to beat her! You don’t have shit!” Qrow argued, “So don’t give me your “thousands of years” bull. I’m sick of it! And I’m sick of you! You’re putting yourself on this fucking pedastool and looking down on us mere mortals like we’re pawns! Well I’m not playing anymore! Cause at the end of the day you’re just some sad, lonely, pathetic excuse of a wizard! And for all I care you can go back to that fucking shack you used to live in a rot!”

Ozpin let out a primal sound and leapt at Qrow who shifted back into his human form and braced for impact. But it never came as Ozpin flew past him, and onto the tentacle infested manticore behind him.

“Wha-” he said before he jumped away to dodge another on coming at him.

Ozpin barked at him to move and began tearing away at another manticore. Qrow growled and shook his head, this argument could wait. Right now he needed to get his head in the game, and hey if he let out a little steam while doing it then all the better. 

The fight lasted till noon, but in the end they were victorious. At the end of it all, the pair flopped onto the snowy ground and caught their breath. Qrow looked at Ozpin and sighed, shifting back into his bird form. 

“Look Oz-”

“Qrow I-”

The pair looked at each other and chuckled.

“You start.” they said in unison, ‘No you-you can-I’m sorry you.” They laughed again, but Qrow recovered first.

“You can go first if you want.” he chuckled. 

Ozpin rolled onto his stomach and looked at the bird before him, “I’m sorry, and I know you don’t want to hear it, but I am. I said some horrible things to you earlier, and I feel awful for it. Your feelings and experiences are valid, and I’m sorry for the things I said. But most of all, I’m sorry for not telling you the truth, about Salem, and the relic, and Jinn. I… I’m so sorry.”

“I’m… sorry too. I get why you kept it all, I mean, just watching it was pretty awful. I could only imagine what it was like to actually live through.” Qrow said remorsefully, “And… I’m sorry I punched you. And yelled at you. And called you a cocksucker. And calling you a sad pathetic excuse of a wizard. And saying I wish you would rot. And-are you gonna stop me or let me keep going?” 

Ozpin gave him a smug smile, “I wanna see how far you can go with this.”

“You suck.” Qrow laughed.

“And you swallow.” Ozpin replied automatically, making Qrow burst out laughing.

“OZ! NO!” he cackled, falling onto his back and kicking his little bird feet in the air.

Ozpin just chuckled and crossed his paws over his face, “I’m sorry! I’m spending too much time around teenagers!”

They laughed a minute longer before calming down, “I do mean it Oz. I’m sorry for everything I said… and did.”

“I am too Qrow. Truly I am. I said some things I never should have and I apologize.” Ozpin said, remorsefully.

“Nah, you were right. I’m a mess, and a drunk, you don’t need to apologize.” Qrow said, rolling back to his stomach.

“Qrow, that’s not true. You’re a good man, a flawed one, but a good one.” Ozpin pressed, but Qrow had shifted back into his human form. 

Qrow didn’t look at him as he spoke, “Let’s just head back ok?” 

Ozpin sighed, but let it go, shifting back to his samoyed form, not wanting to start another argument. The walk back was quiet, but not as tense as it was before. When they reached the hotel, they walked in to find an adorable sight. All the kids piled together with Midnight, Opal, and Alberon draped around Oscar. All of them under a huge blanket fort. Oscar looked over at the door when they entered and his face lit up.

“Ozpin! Qrow! You’re back!” he beamed. Ozpin’s tail began wagging furiously.

“Miss us?” Qrow smirked.

“Of course we did! We haven’t seen you in days Qrow!” Nora said, hands on her hips. 

“It has been a while. We were getting a bit worried.” Blake added calmly. 

Qrow rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, I’ve been busy with missions. Sorry kids.”

“Is… everything alright uncle Qrow?” Ruby asked tentatively. 

He ducked his head, “Yeah. Everything’s fine kiddo. I’m pretty tired though, could use a nap.”

“Here,” Ren said, handing Qrow his room key, “you can take a nap in mine and Jaune’s room.”

Qrow blinked but let a small smile grow on his face, “Thanks kid. I appreciate it.” 

Ozpin watched him go worriedly, but decided to let him be. Goodness knows he needed the rest. He trotted over the children, earning calls of protest and laughter as he made his way to Oscar. Once he reached the boy he hopped one the bed next to him and settled at his side. Oscar was quick to hug Ozpin close and scratched behind his ears.

*You ok?* he asked, *I felt things getting really heated.*

*We had an argument. But we made up, more or less. He’s a complicated man, and he’s been through a lot.* Ozpin replied.

Oscar looked at him a bit worried, *What does more or less mean?*

*I don’t think he’s mad at me anymore, but he’s still clearly hurting.* Ozpin sighed, cuddling up to Oscar.

Oscar hummed, *We’ve been wanting to talk to him… Maybe after his nap?* 

*That might be for the best.* Ozpin agreed. *He needs his rest for now.*

Oscar nodded and hugged Ozpin again, *I’m glad you're both ok.*

Ozpin licked the side of Oscar’s face, *I’m glad too. Now, how’s your day been?*

Oscar smiled and launched into his day, which had clearly been more pleasant than Ozpin's. He had spent time with Ruby and the others building the blanket fort, binging movies, eating snacks, the works. Ozpin was happy to see them all so carefree, they were still so young, they deserved these moments. He stayed with the group for another movie, some animated venture about a fluffy singing rabbit, Ozpin remembered Miss.Scarlatina mentioning it at some point. Qrow showed up at the tail end of the movie, not looking like a man who had gotten a decent rest.

“Uncle Qrow?” Yang asked, “I thought you were taking a nap.”

“I did.” he grunted, plopping himself on the bed closest to the door.

The group shared a collective look before they turned back to Qrow, “Uncle Qrow?” Ruby began timidly, “We wanted to talk to you.”

“About?” Qrow aske skeptically, clearly not liking the looks he was getting from the group.

“About you.” Yang said bluntly. “You disappear, sometimes for days. You barely talk to us. And I don’t think you even sleep most of the time.”

Qrow sighed, though it sounded more like a growl. “I’m fine. I’m a big boy Yang, and I don’t need you guys taking care of me. I’m supposed to be taking care of you all.”

Ozpin knew that tone, it was the same tone he spoke in when he was self deprecating. 

“You don’t have to take care of us though! We can take care of ourselves, and each other! Uncle Qrow please, tell us what’s wrong.” Ruby pleaded, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Qrow turned away from her, “Nothing, ok? Nothing is wrong, so drop it.”

“We’re not dropping it Qrow.” Oscar said next, “We care about you.”

“What is this, an intervention?” Qrow bristled.

“Qrow, we love you. And we just want to know what’s going on.” Nora implored, scooting slightly closer to Qrow.

He flinched away from her, “Nothing is going on! I’m fine!”

“You are clearly not fine.” Ren said flatly.

Qrow growled, “Will you all just drop it! I don’t need you to worry about me! So just leave it!”

“Qrow please, just talk to us.” Jaune begged.

“There is nothing to talk about!” Qrow nearly shouted, glaring hard at the floor.

Maria scoffed, “If there was really nothing to talk about, then you wouldn’t be getting so angry.”

“THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?” Qrow yelled, standing and glaring hard at Maria. “YOU DON’T HAVE A CLUE! I’M SUPPOSED TO BE TAKING CARE OF THEM! KEEPING THEM SAFE! AND WHAT HAPPENS? THEY GET ATTACKED BY A PSYCHO, I GET POISONED, A TRAIN CRASHES, AND WE NEARLY GET KILLED BY BROTHERS FORSAKEN APATHY! I WISH YOU HAD ALL JUST LEFT ME IN THE FUCKING BARN TO BURN!” he was panting as he finished his tirade. “All I do is hurt the people around me. I would be better off dead.”

“Uncle Qrow…” Ruby said softly, reaching towards her uncle.

“I need some air.” he said tiredly, turning heel and all but running out the door. 

The kids moved to follow but Ozpin shot to the door first and stopped them. *Oscar, I need to speak to Qrow. Alone. Please let them know that, and make sure they don’t follow me.*

Oscar nodded and relayed Ozpin’s message, to varied results. 

“No way! He needs his family!” Yang argued.

“He can't be alone right now! You heard what he said!” Ruby said fearfully.

Everyone was talking all at once until Maria shouted above them, “Enough! None of you are going to be able to help him right now. He’s in a bad place, and you kids aren’t going to be able to pull him out. He doesn’t want you to see this side of him. But Ozpin is different. Ozpin is, and don’t take this the wrong way, an actual adult. And Qrow sees him as an adult. Not as a kid he needs to take care of. So let the dog take care of this, at least until he learns that he doesn’t screw up as much as he thinks and that you’re all not children he has to watch over. Then he can lean on you all for support now and again. Understood?”

The group looked at each other and collectively sighed, going back to their spots around the room. Maria nodded at Ozpin, “Well? What are you waiting for? A treat? Go talk some sense in that bird brain.”

Ozpin nodded at her and took off, but not before sharing a look of understanding with Oscar before he left. Ozpin ran down the hall and out the doors of the hotel, following his nose to find Qrow. The scent took him through the same path he had walked that morning, through the city, out the gates, and into the forest. He didn’t have to search long before he saw a familiar crow, sitting in a tree.

“Qrow?” Ozpin began tentatively. “Is that you?”

“Why did you pick me?” he answered. “Of all the kids, of all the teams. Why me? Why STRQ? Why were we special?”

Ozpin sat below the tree, “I saw something in you, a spark, a light, whatever you wish to call it. I saw that in all of you. You had a fire in your soul, and I wanted to help you use that fire to help light the world.”

“Well we botched that up pretty hard didn’t we?” Qrow sighed, “Raven ran, Tai refuses to fight, Summers dead, and I’m a fuck up.”

“You’re not a fuck up Qrow.” Ozpin sighed, he was so tired.

“Then why does Tai hate me? Why did Raven leave? Why didn’t Summer bring me with her on her last mission? Why did Raven fight us at Haven? Why did you lie to me, for so long? Why do I have to keep my distance from everyone and everything I love? Why Oz? Tell me.” Qrow sounded on the verge of tears as he spoke.

Ozpin took a moment to let the words sink and he sighed, “I don’t have all the answers Qrow. I don’t know why Summer left, I don’t know why I let fear control me for so long, or why Tai holds so tightly to his pain. But I can tell you this, Raven was a coward and still is. She ran because she was afraid, and she didn’t have courage to stand up despite her fear. And the only thing that keeps you from your loved ones is you.”

Ozpin looked up at Qrow, “Qrow, you are a caring, generous, sensitive, amazing man. And I am proud to call you my friend. You are also an idiot, a drunk, and over all you can be kind of a dick. But you see the thing is, we all love you despite that, and we want you to be happy. I know you see yourself as a curse, or a waste, or a plague upon humanity. But I assure you, you're not. Please, believe me when I say this, I love you Qrow, and I, just like those children back at the hotel, only want you to be happy and to live your best life.”

Qrow was silent for several beats, and Ozpin waited for him to say something, giving the man as much time as he needed. “I’ve been having nightmares lately.” he finally said, almost too quiet to be properly heard. “They’re usually at the farm, I’m in the cellar. I can’t move, I can hear screaming though, from the door at the back. It’s Ruby and the others calling for help, or Summer asking why I let her go, or it’s Tai telling me that Summer’s death or Raven leaving was my fault. Sometimes it’s Raven, calling me weak, and telling me that they should have killed me as a baby, and saved everyone the hassle. …sometimes it’s you.”

Qrow fell silent for a moment, “What do I say?” Ozpin prompted gently.

Qrow took a shuddering breath, “It changes. Sometimes you blame the fall on me, sometimes you say you wish I had died that night. But sometimes… sometimes you just scream.”

Ozpin was quiet for a moment, taking in all he had heard. No wonder Qrow hadn’t been sleeping well. Those types of nightmares would keep anyone up. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You know why.” Indeed, Ozpin did know why.

“You didn’t want to burden us.”

“Yeah.”

Ozpin looked at the forest around them, “Qrow? Do you want to know the main reason I chose you and your sister to join me?”

“Uh, sure?” Qrow answered, sounding confused.

“You’re names.”

Qrow paused, “Our… names?”

Ozpin nodded, “I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to turn two children named Qrow and Raven, into actual birds. It was perfect, and I couldn’t resist.”

Qrow spluttered at that, “You-you! I… what?!”

Ozpin chuckled, “It was for the pun.”

Qrow blinked rapidly before he snickered, which turned into a chuckle, which became full on laughter. Laughter that Ozpin was quick to join him in. 

“You’re not serious are you?” Qrow giggled, finally calming down a bit.

Ozpin chuckled, “I will never tell, you’ll live the rest of your life wondering, “did he turn me into a bird for a pun?” and you will never know the true answer.”

“You monster!” Qrow laughed, before truly calming down. “Hey, uh, thanks. I think… I think I needed that laugh.”

“Well of course you did. Everyone needs a good laugh on occasion. Why do you think I tickle Oscar so much?” Ozpin grinned.

“I thought it was because you were a remorseless tickle monster.” Qrow said matter-of-factly.

“I will go up there, don’t tempt me.” Ozpin warned.

Qrow scoffed, “How? You’re a dog, dogs can’t climb.” 

Ozpin tilted his head before quickly shifting into a falcon and grabbing Qrow before he could react. Qrow yelped and wiggled in his grip before giving into the free ride he was apparently getting now.

“Is it bad that I forgot you could do that?” Qrow asked flatly.

“Only if it’s bad that I forget I do this too.” Ozpin replied coolly.

This got another laugh out of Qrow, one that was made louder when Ozpin, very gently, wiggled a claw on his belly. It was only for a short moment though, as they made their way back to the tree they had been in before. Ozpin released Qrow a few feet away from the tree, landing gracefully a few seconds before Qrow did.

“We should head back.” Qrow said, “The kids are probably worried sick.”

“I’ll let Oscar know we’re on our way.” Ozpin said before gracefully gliding off the branch. “You coming?”

Qrow was quick to follow him, the two flying lazily into the city, gliding over the rooftops, swooping through traffic lights, taking a short ride on the trolly. Eventually they reached their hotel and Qrow found the room that held the kids and tapped on the window. Jaune opened it first, allowing Qrow and Ozpin to enter. Once inside the pair seamlessly shifted back into their usual forms. 

Qrow awkwardly coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, “So ah, sorry about… earlier. I’ve been… dealing with a lot. And I just don’t want to worry you kids more. You already have a lot on your plates as it is.” 

“Uncle Qrow, we’re gonna worry about you no matter what.” Ruby said, smiling warmly at Qrow. “We’re family. It’s kind of our job.”

Qrow chuckled and sat on the bed next to her, ruffling her hair a bit before he spoke. “Yeah, I guess you're right. I love you kiddo. And that goes for the rest of you too.”

“Awww!” Nora beamed, “Group hug!”

“Wait no!” Qrow tried to protest before eight children, a cloud dog, a grimm cat, and a kitten, all jumped on him. He tried to wriggle free but gave up when he saw there was no escape. They did eventually let him get up, though Ruby and Yang still held onto his arms, and they settled in for another movie. 

That night, as all the kids and Maria slept, Ozpin stayed awake. He watched over the group, people he had come to consider family, people he wanted to protect. He wished he could keep them all safe from the horrors of the world, but it was a bit late for that. So he would do the best he could to protect them here and now, whether it be from the biggest baddest Grimm or a simple nightmare. The latter of which seemed to be happening sooner rather than later. 

Qrow’s face was screwed up in fear and pain and he was jerking around in his sleep. Ozpin carefully picked his way through the others to get to Qrow. He laid at Qrow’s side and cuddled against him, trying to give him reassurance that he was ok, and that he and everyone else were safe. Qrow’s face slowly relaxed, and his body stopped it’s jerking. Qrow rolled over and hugged Ozpin close, Ozpin sighed but settled in for the night. He cuddled closer to Qrow and gave the group...his family one last glance before drifting to sleep, ready to protect Qrow and the others from their own minds if need be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	13. Bonding On The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What were the kids doing while Qrow and Ozpin were out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13! Again, mentions of alcoholism, and suicidal themes. But it's more fluff than before, so that's good!

Salem stirred a bit when Oscar put an arm around her, blinking as she watched Ozpin and Qrow leave the room. It must have been time for their mission. She yawned and snuggled against Oscar but didn’t go back to sleep. It had been a rather heckit few days for sure. Oscar had called Ozpin papa, Qrow was being distant, the children were going to school online, and now they had basically adopted two new cats. Or rather, a cat and a kitten. 

Salem would be lying if she said she didn’t adore little Opal. She was a little ragdoll with big blue eyes, dark brown fur, fluffy paws, and she was just so precious! How anyone could just throw her out she could never be sure. Though Salem did have to admit, she was rather clumsy, she tripped and bumped into things fairly often. But she was just a kitten, so it was fine. Then there was Alberon, an orange abyssinian with a clip off his ear and clearly blind in one eye. He was nice enough, soft with Opal and Oscar, but far gruffer with her and the others. 

Sighing, Salem looked at her sleeping cub. He looked peaceful, calm, something Salem was glad to see. Even if it was just for now. She did hope he would wake up though, it was boring to be the only one awake. 

That was when a little yawn caught her attention, turning her head she was rather happy to see Opal waking up.

“Good morning Opal.” she said softly, not wanting to wake Oscar.

“Mornin.” Opal sleepily replied, “Whers Ozzy?”

“He went on his mission with Qrow remember?” Salem said, smiling softly at the kitten.

“Oh. Right.” the kitten said, sounding disappointed. “Why’r you up?”

“No reason.” she replied, “I simply am. Why are you up?”

Opal blinked at her, “I do not know.”

“Well, why don’t you come here. We can talk until the other’s wake.” Salem invited.

“Otay.” Opal agreed, clambering over to Salem and snuggling into her side.

Salem chuckled, “Comfey?”

“Mhm.” she nodded, looking up at Salem with wide innocent eyes.

Salem felt herself purring a bit and she gently licked the top of Opals head, grooming some of the bedhead out. Opal purred and allowed Salem to groom her, the two sitting in relative silence until Salem was done. Once finished, Opal nuzzled Salem’s side and purred a little louder. 

“Mi’ni?” Opal asked, she wasn’t quite able to say Midnight yet, so she had taken to calling her Mi’ni instead.

“Yes dear?” she asked.

“Is Qow ok?” she asked innocently.

Salem paused for a moment, of course the little kitten had noticed. Children were always perspective. “I’m not sure.” she answered honestly, “He’s hurting, and I think he’s been hurting for a long time.”

“Maybe he needs some cuddles. Cuddles make me feew better.” Opal said matter of factly.

Salem laughed softly, “They make me feel better too. But I don’t think this is something that cuddles can fix.”

“He’s just not getting enuf.” Opal insisted.

Brothers help her this child was precious, “Maybe not little one. Why don’t we give him some when he gets back?”

“Yeah!” Opal chirped, a bit too loud it seemed as Alberon stirred on the pillow next to Oscar.

He yawned and stretched, “What are you two yammering on about?”

“Cuddles!” Opal answered cheerily. 

Alberon huffed out a soft laugh, “Such riveting conversation.”

“What does riberting mean?” Opal asked, trotting over to Alberon and running herself back and forth under his chin.

“Riveting darling.” Salem answered, “It means interesting.” 

“Oooh!” she nodded in understanding, “Then yeah! Cuddles are vry rivering!”

“Riveting.” Alberon and Salem said in unison.

“Well. Aren’t you motherly.” Ableron smirked, “Helping her with new words, grooming her fur, and you’re even worse with Oscar.”

“I… well… I suppose.” Salem stuttered, looking away bashfully.

“What’s muverly?” Opal asked, looking between the two of them.

“Motherly.” Alberon corrected, “It means to act like a mom.”

“Wasa mom?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Someone who loves and cares for you no matter what.” Oscar answered, startling the three. “Morning you guys.”

Salem sighed with a smile, “Good morning Oscar. How long have you been awake?”

“Since Opal asked what riveting meant.” Oscar smiled before sitting up and stretching, letting out a yawn mixed with a groan as he did.

“So a mom loves you and takes care of you?” Opal inquired.

“Yes.” Oscar answered.

Opal looked contemplative, “So… Alby is my mom? Or Mi’ni? Or Ozzy?”

Oscar snorted and Salem had to fight to keep from revealing herself right there to scoop these adorable little creatures into her arms. 

“Midnight is mom, Ozzy is papa, and Alberon is the grumpy uncle or grandpa.” Oscar giggled, scratching under Opal’s chin.

“Wasa dad? And a granpa?” Opal asked, her eyes half lidded as she purred.

“A dad is like a mom, but a boy. A grandpa is the dad of another mom or dad.” Oscar explained. 

Opal hummed, “Alby were you a dad before?”

“Sort of.” he said, looking away as he spoke.

“Then ur granpa!” she beamed. 

Oscar giggled and picked Opal up, nuzzling his nose against hers. “And I’m your big brother! Right?”

“Right!” she cheered, putting her front paws on his nose. Oscar grinned and kissed her cheek, nuzzling his forehead to hers. Opal licked Oscar’s forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Oscar smiled.

Salem purred and nuzzled under Oscar’s chin, making him giggle. “How is Ozpin?” she asked.

“He’s ok.” Oscar replied, setting Opal back on the bed, “He seems kinda worried, probably about Qrow.”

Salem hummed, “Alright. Let’s get some food. I’m sure we’re all hungry.”

Oscar nodded, “We’ll be back. Don’t destroy the room.”

“Otay!” Opal called.

“Bring back something good!” Alberon said. Salem was half sure he was joking.

Salem flopped herself around Oscar’s shoulders as he went from door to door and woke the other children. Soon the whole group (sans Qrow and Ozpin) were sitting in the breakfast area. The chatter was a bit quieter today, their two members' absences being felt throughout.

“So.” Oscar said, “What did you guys wanna do today? I know you have the day off from classes, did you wanna check out the city a bit more?”

“I was thinking of a movie marathon.” Nora suggested, “We could rent a bunch of movies, get some snacks, it’ll be fun!”

Ren nodded, “I’d like that. We’ve been working hard with school, a nice day in might be fun.”

Jaune hummed, “I could ask Saph if they have movies.”

“I’m down.” Yang shrugged, “Just don’t leave making the popcorn to me. I’ll burn it.”

This sent a brief wave of laughter through the group.

“Well seems like it’s pretty much decided.” Ruby chirped, “Today’s movie day!” 

Oscar grinned, “Hey Oz what do you-” looking to where Ozpin usually was he deflated slightly when Ozpin wasn’t there. “Oh. Right. Mission.”

Salem licked the side of his chin, “He’ll be back soon. Don’t be too upset ok?”

Oscar smiled softly and nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

“Oscar! What about you?” Ruby asked, tuning Oscar and Salem back into the conversation.

“What?” he asked.

“What’s your favorite movie?” Nora chriped, “We’re picking everyone’s favorites and watching them!”

Oscar thought for a moment, “My favorite movie is Princess Pirate, but my favorite movie series is probably Quakes.”

Jaune grinned, “I love Princess Pirate! And I haven’t seen Quakes in forever!”

Yang, Ruby, and Weiss looked a bit confused. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Quakes.” Weiss said, with Yang and Ruby nodding in agreement.

“You know the Arrakis Grimm in Vacuo?” Ren asked, “It’s basically a movie about non-hunters dealing with those.”

“Ok, so favorites and Quakes. We’ve got, Princess Pirate, Wizard of Oum, Kung-fu Kid, Singing in the Storm, Quakes, Infiltrate the Dragon, and Die Strong. Anything else?” Ruby said, looking over the group.

“Nope! Ren, Jaune and I can get the snacks! We’ll meet you back at Ruby and Yang’s room!” Nora cheered, grabbing Ren and Jaune and dragging them out to shop.

Ruby grinned, “Then that means we have to get the room ready.”

Yang grinned as well, “Blanket fort?”

“Blanket fort.” Ruby nodded.

Weiss hummed, “I’ve never made a blanket fort. How do you do it?”

Ruby and Yang gasped before suddenly appearing at Weiss’s sides. They each grabbed an arm and quickly began dragging her to the room, both chattering excitedly about how awesome this was going to be. Blake and Oscar chuckled as they followed their friends.

“Oscar,” Salem began, “what are those movies? I’ve never heard of any of them.”

“Oh, well Princess Pirate is a love story, Wizard of Oum is a fantasy, Kung-fu Kid, Die Strong, and Infiltrate the Dragon are action movies, and Singing in the Storm is a Musical. Quakes is a comedy/horror series. You’ll like them I’m sure.” Oscar grinned.

The actual building of the fort was rather fun to watch. There was a lot of running around and grabbing blankets and pillows from the other rooms. Opal kept trying to “help” by jumping on the blankets and pillows. Eventually Oscar had to hold her so that they could actually build, and they finally finished when team JNR burst in with arms loaded with snacks. 

“You guys ready to get this party started?” Jaune grinned.

A cheer rose from everyone and they all got settled to rent the movies. There was a bit of an argument about which movie would go first, but they eventually decided on the order and their marathon began. 

First was Ruby’s movie, Wizard of Oum. Most of them knew it and they sang along with the songs. Ruby and Yang even mentioned that Qrow used to sing the strawmans song to them when they were little. Salem laughed a bit, the image of Qrow singing about how he “wished he had a brain” was just too funny.

Second was Yangs, Kung-Fu Kid. Weiss and Oscar hadn’t seen it, though Oscar had heard about it. They all laughed when Jaune tried to do the crane move, only to lose his balance and fall on his butt.

Third was Weiss and Nora’s, Singing in the Storm. Oscar did an excellent rendition of “make ‘em laugh” while Weiss, Jaune, and Nora sang “good morning”. That had been fun, and Salem sighed at the ending, in a good way, she loved a good happy ending for the couples in movies. Not that she watched many.

Next was Ren and Maria’s and then Blake’s movies, Infiltrate the Dragon for Blake and Die Strong for Ren and Maria. Both were action movies, but Salem found herself somewhat enjoying Die Strong more. It was possible she just likes the line “yippee ki-yay, motherfucker!” or maybe it was the little fact that Ren shared about this movie technically being a nondescript winter holiday movie. She did wish Opal and Oscar hadn't had to watch it though. Such language was not appropriate for young ears. 

It was when they were about to start Quakes when Qrow and Ozpin joined them. 

“Ozpin! Qrow! You’re back!” Oscar beamed.

“Miss us?” Qrow smirked as Ruby paused the movie.

“Of course we did! We haven’t seen you in days Qrow!” Nora said, hands on her hips.

“It has been a while. We were getting a bit worried.” Blake added calmly.

Qrow rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, I’ve been busy with missions. Sorry kids.”

“Is… everything alright uncle Qrow?” Ruby asked tentatively.

He ducked his head, “Yeah. Everything’s fine kiddo. I’m pretty tired though, could use a nap.”

“Here,” Ren said, handing Qrow his room key, “you can take a nap in mine and Jaune’s room.”

Qrow blinked but let a small smile grow on his face, “Thanks kid. I appreciate it.”

They all watched him go, a feeling of worry permeating the air. Until Ozpin trotted over to Oscar, his journey brought him over several other kids. The giggles and calls of protests before he got to Oscar and Salem.

Salem nodded a greeting to him which he returned before he and Oscar seemed to begin their own mental conversation. 

“I think we should hold off on the scary movie for now.” Ruby said, “Maybe something a little more light hearted?”

“What about that movie Velvet mentioned back at Beacon? I think it was called… little bunny foo foo?” Yang suggested. 

“Sounds good to me.” Nora said, as the others nodded along. 

So they all sat and watched the movie, it was… disgustingly adorable, and Opal really seemed to enjoy it. If her wide eyes and rapt attention to the screen were anything to go by. Oscar seemed… less enthused but she did notice him humming along to a few of the songs. 

When the movie was over, Qrow came back into the room and gave Ren his keycard back. Salem noticed how exhausted he still looked. Clearly a simple nap hadn’t been enough.

“Uncle Qrow?” Yang asked, “I thought you were taking a nap.”

“I did.” he grunted, plopping himself on the bed closest to the door.

The group shared a collective look before they turned back to Qrow, “Uncle Qrow?” Ruby began timidly, “We wanted to talk to you.”

“About?” Qrow aske skeptically, clearly not liking the looks he was getting from the group.

“About you.” Yang said bluntly. “You disappear, sometimes for days. You barely talk to us. And I don’t think you even sleep most of the time.” 

Qrow sighed, though it sounded more like a growl. “I’m fine. I’m a big boy Yang, and I don’t need you guys taking care of me. I’m supposed to be taking care of you all.”

“You don’t have to take care of us though! We can take care of ourselves, and each other! Uncle Qrow please, tell us what’s wrong.” Ruby pleaded, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Qrow turned away from her, “Nothing, ok? Nothing is wrong, so drop it.”

“We’re not dropping it Qrow.” Oscar said next, “We care about you.”

“What is this, an intervention?” Qrow bristled.

“Qrow, we love you. And we just want to know what’s going on.” Nora implored, scooting slightly closer to Qrow.

He flinched away from her, “Nothing is going on! I’m fine!”

“You are clearly not fine.” Ren said flatly.

Qrow growled, “Will you all just drop it! I don’t need you to worry about me! So just leave it!”

“Qrow please, just talk to us.” Jaune begged.

“There is nothing to talk about!” Qrow nearly shouted, glaring hard at the floor.

Maria scoffed, “If there was really nothing to talk about, then you wouldn’t be getting so angry.”

“THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?” Qrow yelled, standing and glaring hard at Maria. “YOU DON’T HAVE A CLUE! I’M SUPPOSED TO BE TAKING CARE OF THEM! KEEPING THEM SAFE! AND WHAT HAPPENS? THEY GET ATTACKED BY A PSYCHO, I GET POISONED, A TRAIN CRASHES, AND WE NEARLY GET KILLED BY BROTHERS FORSAKEN APATHY! I WISH YOU HAD ALL JUST LEFT ME IN THE FUCKING BARN TO BURN!” he was panting as he finished his tirade. “All I do is hurt the people around me. I would be better off dead.”

“Uncle Qrow…” Ruby said softly, reaching towards her uncle.

“I need some air.” he said tiredly, turning heel and all but running out the door.

The group made to follow him but Ozpin got in the way. He looked at Oscar who nodded after a brief moment. “He says he needs to talk to Qrow alone, and that none of you are to follow him.”

“No way! He needs his family!” Yang argued.

“He can't be alone right now! You heard what he said!” Ruby said fearfully.

Everyone was talking all at once until Maria shouted above them, “Enough! None of you are going to be able to help him right now. He’s in a bad place, and you kids aren’t going to be able to pull him out. He doesn’t want you to see this side of him. But Ozpin is different. Ozpin is, and don’t take this the wrong way, an actual adult. And Qrow sees him as an adult. Not as a kid he needs to take care of. So let the dog take care of this, at least until he learns that he doesn’t screw up as much as he thinks and that you’re all not children he has to watch over. Then he can lean on you all for support now and again. Understood?”

The group looked at each other and collectively sighed, going back to their spots around the room. Maria nodded at Ozpin, “Well? What are you waiting for? A treat? Go talk some sense in that bird brain.”

Ozpin nodded at her and took off, leaving the group in silence. It took sometime for everyone to move, but slowly they went back to their places. Except for Yang, who stayed motionless at the door. 

“Yang?” Blake asked tentatively.

“I hate him sometimes.” Yang answered. “He’s so selfish. He can’t see how many people care about him and he’s so stuck in his own head and I hate him.” 

“Yang, come on. You don’t mean that.” Ruby tried. Only for Yang to whirl around with a fire in her eyes.

“YES I DO! I HATE HIM! AND I HATE THIS! I HATE WAITING TO SEE IF HE’S GONNA COME BACK DRUNK OR NOT! I HATE SEEING HIM IN SO MUCH PAIN AND KNOWING THAT WE COULD HELP HIM IF HE JUST! FUCKING! LET US!” she finished her tirad by punching the wall. Though luckily it wasn’t hard enough to break anything.

“YOU THINK I’M NOT TIRED OF IT TOO?” Ruby cried, “YOU THINK I LIKE THIS? CAUSE I DON’T! DO YOU THINK I WANT HIM TO BE LIKE THIS? SO ANGRY AND SAD AND BROKEN? I’M SICK OF SEEING HIM LIKE THIS TOO OK? AND I’M SICK OF EVERYONE YELLING AND BEING MAD AND LEAVING AND I DON’T WANT THIS ANYMORE!” she sobbed, “I don’t want to fight like this anymore.”

They all looked at her stunned, Ruby didn’t yell like that. And she certainly didn’t cry like that. 

“Ruby I…” Yang began, reaching her hand out to her younger sister. 

“I’m tired Yang. I’m really really tired.” Ruby said softly from her seat on the bed. “But we have to be here for Uncle Qrow when he needs us. We can’t just talk to him and magically make things better. He needs to make the choice first, we just need to support him when he does.”

“I’m sorry for yelling.” Yang sighed, moving next to Ruby and pulling her into a hug. “You’re right. I’ll be there when he needs me, no matter what.”

“We’ll be there too.” Nora added. “Qrow doesn’t just have you guys to rely on now. He’s got us.”

“Right.” Jaune agreed, “And when he’s ready, we’ll be here waiting with open arms.”

“That’s what family does after all.” Ren said with a small smile.

Blake put a hand on Yang's shoulder, “And we’re here for you when things get rough. We aren’t going anywhere.”

“We’re family after all. We have to stick together.” Weiss said, putting a hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

Opal tentatively moved to Ruby’s lap and snuggled into her, “Cuddles make everything better.” she said. Ruby looked a bit confused at the affection and looked to Oscar for answers.

“She’s trying to cheer you up.” he said, a small smile working its way onto his face. 

Ruby smiled back at him and cuddled Opal to her chest, “I think I do feel better.” 

The group was largely silent after that, but they all gravitated towards each other, and soon they were all cuddling in a large pile of limbs and warmth. They stayed like this until Qrow and Ozpin eventually returned. Jaune had untangled himself from the other’s and opened the window when the tapping had begun. The two flew in and shifted to their usual forms.

Qrow awkwardly coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, “So ah, sorry about… earlier. I’ve been… dealing with a lot. And I just don’t want to worry you kids more. You already have a lot on your plates as it is.”

“Uncle Qrow, we’re gonna worry about you no matter what.” Ruby said, smiling warmly at Qrow. “We’re family. It’s kind of our job.”

Qrow chuckled and sat on the bed next to her, ruffling her hair a bit before he spoke. “Yeah, I guess you're right. I love you kiddo. And that goes for the rest of you too.”  
“Awww!” Nora beamed, “Group hug!”

“Wait no!” Qrow tried to protest before eight children, a cloud dog, a grimm cat, and a kitten, all jumped on him. He tried to wriggle free but gave up when he saw there was no escape. They did eventually let him get up, though Ruby and Yang still held onto his arms, and they settled in for another movie.

They let Qrow choose this one, Grimmbusters, something Oscar had never seen. It was a very much needed moment of reprieve after all the drama they had faced that day. It was during the Quakes movie that everyone fell asleep.

The next morning everyone seemed in much higher spirits, except Qrow, who was still very much asleep. Opal was snuggled on his chest and Ozpin was on his side. Yang took a picture of the sleeping trio before leaving to get breakfast with the others.

“So.” Yang began once everyone was seated, “What are we doing today?”

“Well, we never did get to finish Quakes. What if we watched those and then explored the city a bit?” Nora suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” Yang agreed, “Any objections?”

No one had issues with the new plan, so once they had all eaten they went back to the room to start up the movies. When they got there they found Qrow awake, playing with Opal by wiggling his fingers in the air for her to pounce at. Ozpin was watching it all, looking rather amused by the whole thing. Oscar put a finger on his lips and handed Salem over to Ruby as he shifted to his fox form. The little fox stealthily made his way to Ozpin before pouncing on him. 

Ozpin didn’t react too much, simply smiled at Oscar and said, “Hello there. How was breakfast?”

Oscar pouted at him but shook himself off and jumped on the bed to play with Opal.

“Hi professor!” Ruby chirped, “We brought you guys some food!”

Qrow smiled at them, “Thanks kid.”

“Did you sleep well?” Weiss asked.

“For once, yeah, I did.” Qrow answered softly, a small smile tugging on his lips.

“That’s good.” Blake smiled, “Would you like to join us for a movie? We’re watching Quakes.”

Qrow shrugged as Ruby handed him his food, “Sure, I liked those movies.”

They closed the blinds and turned off the lights, so that the only light was coming from the tv. The first movie was fairly tame, the only people who seemed bothered were Yang, Ozpin, and Ruby. At one point in the middle of a rather tense scene, Opal jumped on Ozpin’s tail, making him jump, which made Yang shout and accidentally toss her popcorn over herself, Ruby, and Weiss.   
“Really?” Weiss deadpanned, earning sheepish looks from Ozpin and Yang. 

They got through the first three movies before they decided to take a break and explore a bit. All agreeing they needed sunshine after being inside all of today and the day before. Ruby went with Ren to a video game store, Nora and Weiss paired off to look at some new restaurant, Jaune went with Yang to an arcade, Oscar and Qrow headed to the docks to look at the ocean with Maria, Opal, and Alberon, and Blake went with Ozpin to the forest. Salem had elected to go to the forest, if only to allow Ozpin to “give” her back her tiger form. 

It was in the forest that things fell apart once again. It started fine, Salem was back in her tigress form, Ozpin and her were chasing each other through the woods, and Blake seemed content to stay back and stroll alone through the woods. Though a few minutes into their game of chase, was when they heard a familiar scream. They immediately began running to the source of the noise, there they found Blake, her weapon out, looking terrified. And a few yards away, was one Adam Taurus. 

“Oh no.” Ozpin said, and Salem couldn’t help but agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	14. Taking The Bull By The Horns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fight! Fight! Fight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write actions scenes, but I did my best. Enjoy!

Midnight was the first to react, letting out a mighty roar and lunging at Adam. This broke Ozpin out of his stupor and he darted in front of Blake, growling menacingly, ready to protect the girl.

*Oscar! We need help! Adam Taurus is attacking us in the forest! Get the others quickly* Ozpin said hurriedly. 

*Got it!* Oscar replied.

Ozpin tuned back into the fight to see Midnight in a standoff with Adam. He turned to look at Blake, the girl was shaking, her eyes widened in terror, and her grip tight on her weapon. Ozpin carefully moved closer to her and pressed himself against her. She inhaled sharply and flinched back, but seemed to calm slightly at seeing the silver dire wolf.

“Professor?” she said quietly. 

He nodded and gestured for her to go, at least while she had the chance. She looked between him and Adam and hardened her features. 

“No. This is my fight. I’m not running away again.” she said firmly, lifting her weapon and shooting Adam in the shoulder.

Adam cried out and staggered forward before glaring at Blake and Ozpin. Before he could move at them Midnight lunged at him, and he brought up his sword to block her. Blake ran around and began shooting around Adam, forcing him to push Midnight off and take off towards her, Ozpin and Midnight in hot pursuit. 

Their fight took them through the whole forest, shots, roars, and metal on metal rang strong as they fought. Ozpin stuck mostly to the defense, while Midnight took the main offense and Blake offered support. It was at a waterfall that the battle came to a head. Adam’s face twisted into a smirk as his aura shimmered, and with a large arc of his now glowing blade, he hit Midnight nearly sending her off the cliff. 

“NO!” Blake and Ozpin shouted as one as they raced to her side. Ozpin grabbed her by her scruff and dragged her away from the cliff. She was out cold, but still alive. 

“See what happens when you cross me Blake?” Adam sneered, “I told you I would take everything you love from you. And I unlike you, I keep my word.” 

Ozpin growled low and his hackles raised to their fullest as he stood in front of the fallen tigress. His ears flicked slightly though, when the sound of a motorcycle caught his attention. It seemed backup was on its way.

Adam scoffed, “I gave you everything. I taught you everything you know, I gave you a home, I loved you. And this is how you repay me? After everything?”

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Blake pleaded, “Why can’t you just let me go?”

“I will never let you go! Not until you have suffered like I have!” Adam seethed as he ripped the ribbon off his face. “I will make you pay for leaving me Blake. Even if I have to kill everyone in Remnant. I will make you suffer, till the end of your days.”

“You won’t win Adam. Because I have something you will never have.” Blake said determinedly.

“And what could that possibly be?” Adam sneered.

Blake smirked, “People who love me.” and with that Yang’s bike slammed into him full force.

Yang landed in front of Blake with Qrow at her side, both looking pissed beyond belief. 

“Take a second. Ok Blake?” Yang smiled softly at the faunus girl behind her, “We got this.”

Qrow cracked his knuckles and his neck, “So you’re the fucker who cut off my niece’s arm. Ohoho. I am going to enjoy this.”

“Not before I get a few licks in first.” Yang smirked, though Ozpin could see her prosthetic shaking. 

Qrow put a hand on her shoulder and nodded at her with a reassuring smile. Together they ran at the bull faunus and attacked. Ozpin took this moment to look closer at Midnight, she had a few large scratches on her side, but those could be healed easily. Over all she seemed to only be unconscious, and that loosened a huge knot in his stomach. 

“Is she ok?” Blake asked, her eyes darting between the fight and Midnight. Ozpin nodded and turned more fully to the fight, ready to help the second he seemed needed. Ozpin saw Adam charging his semblance again, and he barked for them to move. Yang looked at him, but Qrow saw what was coming and shoved Yang out of the way, taking the hit himself. 

“Uncle Qrow!” Yang yelled rushing to Qrow’s side. His aura was broken, but he was still conscious at least.

“That…” Qrow wheezed out, “That fucking hurt.”

Yang growled and turned to face Adam, this time with Blake at her side. Adam growled, “You have to be joking. You don’t believe you can really protect her do you? You’re nothing! You can’t protect anyone!”

“I’m not protecting her!” Blake yelled, before looking at Yang with a smile, “And she’s not protecting me. We’re protecting each other!” 

With that, the pair ran at Adam. Qrow and Ozpin watching from the side lines as they take him down together. Eventually they broke his aura and knocked him out. Once he was down they managed to tie him to a tree and call the authorities. 

Yang sighed once it was done and sat a ways away from Adam, Blake sitting heavily down next to her.

“Blake-”

“Yang-”

They blinked at each other and chuckled. “You first.” Yang smiled at her partner.

“Yang I-I not going to leave you. Not ever again. I swear.” Blake said softly, putting her hand on Yangs.

Yang was quiet for a moment and she closed her hand around Blakes, “I know.”

Blake smiled at Yang and rested her head against her shoulder. Ozpin smiled a bit at the pair as he laid down next to Midnight. They had used Qrow’s cape to cover her wounds until the other’s came with a proper first aid kit. He had shifted her back into her house cat form already, just in case the authorities came by before the others. 

“BLAKE! YANG! UNCLE QROW!” Ruby’s voice called before she appeared in a flurry of rose petals. “Are you ok? What happened?” 

“We’re ok. Midnight got the worst of it really.” Qrow replied, “But she’ll be ok.”

“OZPIN! MIDNIGHT!” Oscar’s voice rang out as he slid to his knees and hugged Ozpin close. “Oh my god I was so worried! Are you ok?”

Ozpin relaxed a bit on Oscar’s arms and nuzzled into the hold, “I’m ok. Midnight will be. Just a nasty scratch.”

Oscar pulled back with tears in his eyes and looked over at Midnight who was just waking up. He rushed to her side and gingerly placed a hand on her cheek, petting it softly as she woke.

“Ugh, Blake? BLAKE!” she tried to get up, but quickly fell back down with a pained noise.

“Midnight! It’s ok! Blakes ok!” Oscar said, keeping the cat from rising again.

Midnight blinked and looked around, “What… happened?”

“We’ll fill you in later. Right now we need to get you healed up.” Ozpin said, moving next to Oscar.

“Is mama ok?” Opal asked from Oscar’s coat pocket, her head popping out of it.

Midnight smiled, “I’m fine darling. Nothing to worry about. I heal a lot faster than most, perks of being part Grimm I suppose.”

Opal hopped out of Oscar’s pocket and nuzzled Salem’s chin before looking at Adam who was still tied to the tree. “They’re really disappointed in him.” she said, thoroughly confusing Ozpin and Oscar. 

But at that moment Jaune and the others came by along with the authorities. Adam was carted away and everyone decided that they had all had enough outside time for today. Oscar bent down and carefully lifted Midnight to carry her back to the hotel, glaring at Adam as he passed. Once they got inside he got the first aid kit and looked over Midnight. He was surprised to find the wound basically healed. He looked at her questioningly, wanting an explanation. 

“I… think it’s all of the negative emotions. They heighten my abilities, including healing.” She explained.

“Alright.” Oscar nodded, still disinfecting what was left of the wound and wrapping it up.

They all sat together in the room, Blake explaining how Adam waited until she was alone to attack. How he apparently had been stalking her since Haven, and how terrified she had been. At some point through the talk Opal toddled over to Blake and hopped onto the faunus girl’s lap. Blake smiled a bit and scratched behind Opal’s ears. When Blake was finished the other’s were gathered around her, offering reassurance and comfort. Something Blake allowed herself to indulge in, if only for now. 

It was a bit later, when everyone was cuddled together in a rather impressive pile on the beds, that Oscar recalled what Opal had said earlier. 

“Hey, Opal?” he asked, gently nudging her cheek with his finger.

She looked up at him curiously, “Mhm?”

“What did you mean earlier? When you said they were disappointed in Adam?” he asked quietly. 

“What?” Ruby asked from next to him.

“Opal just said someone was disappointed in… him.” Oscar explained, “I was just wondering what she was talking about.”

Ruby tilted her head and looked curiously at Opal, “Opal… how many people are in here right now?”

“I don’t know.” she replied.

Oscar looked at Ruby, “She’s a kitten. She can’t count.”

Ruby chuckled sheepishly, “Right, well we’ll say who’s in the room and you tell us if we’re right. Ok?”

Opal nodded, “Otay!”

So Ruby and Oscar said everyone in the room's names and when they were done Opal shook her head. “Nope. There are more.”

“More?” Oscar questioned in shock.

“It’s a cat thing.” Alberon explained, “we can see the spirits of those who have died but not passed on. I can see them too. But not as clearly as she can.” 

Oscar translated what he said to the others, everyone giving looks of shock and confusion.

Qrow was next to speak, “...Who else is here?”

Opal looked around the room, “Four little human girls around mama and papa, a pretty girl with a ponytail by Jaja, a lady in a cloak by Yan, Qwo, and Wuby, a man with a beard and a lady by Wen, a man with big shoulders and a lady with spiky hair by Nowa, a man and a lady with Osca, and a man in armor with a beard by Weizz.” 

When Oscar repeated the message to the others there was a range of reactions. Shock, confusion, sorrow, and skepticism. Though the last one was mostly from Qrow. 

“Can you talk to these… things?” Qrow asked, arms crossed over his chest.

Opal nodded and Qrow continued, “Ask the “cloak lady” to say something that only she would know.”

“Why?” Opal asked with a tilt to her head. Oscar translated and Qrow’s eyes narrowed.

“I want to see if it’s really her. Or if this whole thing is even real.” Qrow said with a mild growl.

Opal nodded again and looked at Qrow for a moment. Or rather, she looked just over his shoulder before she started giggling.

“What?” Qrow asked, standing a little straighter.

Opal giggled, “She says you’re Wuby and Yan gofafer. And when she asked you, chocola milk flew out your nose.”

Oscar began laughing and translated the message, making Qrow blush brightly while the others laughed.

“You did not!” Ruby giggled.

Qrow sat down and buried his face in his hands, answering the question and making everyone laugh harder. Though once the laughter ended the weight of what had just been confirmed settled on them all. Spirits. They’re loved ones where with them, right now.

“Umm…” Jaune began tentatively, but was interrupted by Opal.

“She’s pouwd of you. But want’s you to sweep mo.” she said.

Jaune blinked when he was told what she said before a soft laugh left him, “Yeah. Ok. I’ll try.”

Weiss raised her hand next and Oscar translated Opal’s words, “He loves you so much, and he doesn’t want you to give up on your mom just yet. She’s hurting too.”

The rest of the group wanted to know what their loved one’s had to say.

“You dad is beyond proud you killed the nuckleeve, and your mom is so proud of her little lotus for finally making a move on Nora.”

“They’re sorry they never got to meet you, but are happy you’ve been able to grow into the amazing person you are today.”

“They all think Oz looks cute as a dog, and they wish they could hug you more. And they like Midnight. And they’re laughing for some reason apparently. They also say they like their new brother!”

“She wants you to know she loves you both so much and she’s so proud of you both. But she thinks Ruby’s holding too much in, Yang needs to tone down the puns every now and again, and Qrow needs to accept more hugs.”

Oscar was silent for the next part, he didn’t want the others to hear what his parents had to say. That was for him and him alone.

Opal told him what they had to say, “They love you. They don’t want you to howd onto da past. And they like your new pawents, they want them to know dat dey had beder keep you safe. ”

Oscar smiled and wiped away a tear, “I like them too.” 

Ozpin looked away along with Midnight, though they were both smiling. 

“I’ll keep him safe, I promise.” Ozpin said softly, scooting a touch closer to Oscar.

Oscar smiled at him and rubbed between Ozpin's ears.

“I godda talk to mama.” Opal said, “Pwivatwy.”

Oscar nodded, “I gotta clear my head anyway. Anyone else wanna join me outside?”

“Yes please.” Ruby nodded, already heading for the door, followed by Yang.

The other kids all agreed as well and left, leaving Opal and Midnight alone, minus Alberon who was going to take a nap. Oscar and the other hung around in the little garden the hotel had. Oscar sat on the ground with Ozpin’s head on his lap, idly petting down his back.

“I don’t remember them that well.” Oscar said suddenly. “My parents I mean. I was… really young when they died.”

Ozpin stayed silent, waiting for Oscar to continue in his own time.

“It’s… it’s almost weird to think that they're still here. Watching me ya know? I can’t even remember their faces.” Oscar sniffled and rubbed at his eyes. “How awful is that? I don’t remember my own parents’ faces.”

“It’s ok Oscar. I understand.” Ozpin said softly. “Do you think you can tell me what you do remember?”

Oscar was quiet for a moment, “...Mom had a really nice singing voice. And dad always smelled like pine trees. Sometimes, when I smell them, I almost feel like he’s close by.”

Ozpin nuzzled Oscar, “Now you know he is. They both are.”

Oscar smiled a bit and scratched at Ozpin’s muzzle, “I know. But… I don’t know if I even need them to watch over me anymore. After all, I have two new parents right?”

Ozpin chuckled, “Only if you want them.”

“I do.” Oscar said softly. “Even if we would make the weirdest family in all of Remnant. I mean, a human boy who can turn into a fox, an immortal wizard that's also a dog, and a half Grimm half tiger. How can anyone top that?”

Ozpin laughed and bumped his head against Oscar playfully, “You forgot the kitten that can see ghosts and her grumpy grandpa cat.” 

Oscar laughed, “Oh yeah! How could I forget!”

They all stayed out there for a few more hours, sharing stories of their loved ones, or the lack thereof, and simply being together. Eventually though they returned to the room, Salem was cuddled with Opal on a pillow with Alberon napping next to them.

Oscar said his good nights to the others and got ready for bed. Qrow was already asleep by the time he got back, Alberon next to him purring up a storm. Oscar chuckled and took a picture before he settled into bed next to Ozpin and Midnight. 

“Hey Oz?” he asked softly, “Do you… do you actually mind if I call you papa? Cause I won’t if you don’t want me to.”

Ozpin gave Oscar’s cheek a lick before he answered, “Oscar, you can call me whatever you like. And papa happens to fall into that category, then I’ll wear that badge with honor.”

Oscar smiled and hugged Ozpin close before he fell asleep, feeling more loved than he had in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!


	15. A Mothers Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem is having a TIME

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a hot minute! Sorry for being so long! I've had work and stuff lately. Hope you enjoy though!

When Salem woke up her immediate thought was Blake, she was alone with only Ozpin to protect her. Salem needed to get to Blake, she needed to help her. Oh Brother's her head hurt.

“Ugh, Blake?” she said groggily, and upon not seeing the girl she panicked, “BLAKE!”

She tried to get up, to go find the faunus girl, only to fall back when her side flared in pain. She let out a pained noise as she went. 

“Midnight!” she heard her cub say, the sound of his voice sending another spike of anxiety through her. What was he doing here? He needed to get away! That psycho could still be here! “It’s ok!” It is most certainly not ok. “Blakes ok!” ...what?

She took the moment to look around, seeing Yang next to Blake, both looking shaken but ok, Adam tied to a tree, and her own self in her house cat form with Qrow’s cape around her. “What… happened?”

“We’ll fill you in later. Right now we need to get you healed up.” Oscar said, relief clear in his face.

“Is mama ok?” she heard Opal say before her adorable little face popped out of Oscar’s pocket.

She felt a smile work it’s way onto her face. She hadn’t quite realized how much she missed being called mama. It had been so long. “I’m fine darling. Nothing to worry about. I heal a lot faster than most, perks of being part Grimm I suppose.” 

Opal hopped out of Oscar’s pocket and nuzzled under Salem’s chin with a little purr. Salem smiled softly before she noticed Opal looking at something. She followed her gaze and looked at Adam. Looking at the man she almost, almost, felt bad. He had gone through such horrors, if that scar on his face was anything to go by. Salem could sympathize to a degree. She knew how scars of the past could define you for the rest of your days, she had only recently changed her ways. Maybe Adam just needed someone to help him see the light. She truly hoped he would find that, and stay far FAR away from her children.

...her children. Since when had she started to think of the other’s as her own? She had been rather protective of Blake today and she was always worried about Oscar. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she had grown to care for all of them. She didn’t want anything to happen to any of them.

*I’m going to have so many heart attacks because of their antics. Aren’t I?* she thought, totally missing whatever it was Opal had said as Adam was carted away, and Oscar picked her up to bring her back to the hotel. 

Once at the hotel Oscar grabbed a first aid kit and took Qrow’s cape off her. He looked surprised to find the wound basically healed, and shot her a questioning look.

Salem probably should have prepared for this. But she took the first thing that came to mind for an explanation. “I… think it’s all the negative emotions. They heighten my abilities, including healing.”

“Alright.” Oscar said simply, and when he turned away to check what was left of her wound, she let out a relieved sigh. She had no idea how long she could keep all this up. She knew she couldn’t do this forever… probably. One day her secret would be revealed. And what then? Would Oscar accept her? Ozpin surely wouldn’t. The others would most likely turn their backs to her as well. And what would she do? Would she leave? Would she stay? One could never truly know how they would act in such a situation until it arose. Hopefully she would make the right call. 

It was a bit later, after Blake had told them all of Adam’s attack, and everyone had offered reassurances and comfort, that she heard Oscar talking.

“Hey Opal?” he asked, gently nudging her cheek.

“Mhm?” she replied innocently.

“What did you mean earlier? When you said they were disappointed in Adam?” he quietly asked.

Ruby piped up with a curious, “What?”

“Opal just said someone was disappointed in… him. I was just wondering what she was talking about.” Oscar explained.

Ruby tilted her head and narrowed her eyes a bit at the kitten, “Opal… how many people are in here right now?” 

That’s when things turned weird, apparently Opal could see spirits, and among these spirits… were her and Ozma’s daughters along with Oscar’s parents. Who apparently approved of them, much to Salem’s secret delight. 

It was when her daughters wished to speak to her privately that she grew worried. But she stayed in the room, with Opal, a napping Alberon, and her ghost daughters. Lovely. 

“So. What did you wish to talk about dear?” Salem asked.

“They know about you. Who you wewy awe.” Opals said bluntly. “They know you’wre wying to evyone. They know why, and they think is kinda funny. But they also tink you should tell the twuf.”

Salem sighed, “I… can’t. Not yet. They… I know how they feel about my true identity. I want to keep this up for a bit longer.” 

“They think you’wre bein dumb.” Opal deadpanned.

“I know I am.” Salem said, “I… I’m scared of… of losing another family.”

Salem could almost feel small hands on her back. She relaxed a tad at the feeling and felt herself start purring. 

“They say they wuv you, and that none of them blame you or papa fow what happened. They don’t want you to keep huwting yourselwes over this.” Opal said softly, butting her head gently under Salem’s chin. “They fogibe you both.”

Salem took a sharp inhale of breath and let it out shakily. “I… I’m so sorry my darlings. My sweet wonderful girls, I’m so sorry.” 

The ghostly warmth grew, and Salem curled around Opal tightly. If Salem currently had the ability she was certain she would be crying, but for now, she could be content cuddling with Opal, and perhaps a few others as well. Eventually the other’s came back, said their goodnights, and headed to bed. 

The next day when everyone was dressed and fed, it was decided that today was shopping day. If they were going to Atlas, they would need warmer clothes. Oscar decided to take Opal and Alberon along, to get them something nice as well. While the others went to the clothing stores, Oscar headed to the pet store with some money Qrow had given him. Salem was sure they looked quite a sight. A samoyed on the left, a tuxedo cat on Oscar’s shoulders, a ragdoll kitten in his hair, and an absyssian riding the samoyed. 

“Young man, we can’t allow… all of these pets in here without leashes.” a worker said, looking between all of the animals and Oscar.

“Oh.” Oscar said, “Could I… buy the leashes? I… don’t actually have any.” 

“Uhh, give me a sec.” the worker said before dashing off. 

The odd group stood awkwardly at the entrance while the employee moved around the store, grabbing this and that before returning. 

“Ok. These should work. Two medium cat leashes, an extra small cat leash, and a medium dog harness with the leash.” they said panting slightly. “You should try them one first.”

“R-right.” Oscar stuttered, grabbing the items and fumbling them onto everyone. Salem. Did. Not. Like. The cat leash. At all. It threw her off balance, and it seemed even worse for Alberon and Opal. She could at least stand up, they were falling to their side every time they were put on their feet. It might not have been as bad if Oscar would stop giggling at them.

“I-I think these will work.” he said through his giggles, before scooping them all up and carrying them to the register. He quickly paid for the harnesses and they set about their shopping trip, Salem having taken her place back around Oscar’s shoulders and Alberon having joined Opal on Ozpin’s back. They got a number of odd looks around the store but those were largely ignored. 

Their first stop was the toy aisle, mostly for Opal’s benefit. Though they all pointedly ignored it when Ozpin grabbed a chew toy or a tug of war rope. Opal seemed to like the more noisy toys, things with bells, crinkly toys, stuff like that. They grabbed a few things and set out to the next spot in the store, they were gonna look at accessories, partly at Salem’s prodding. So she wanted to look a bit cute in this form, sue her!

Her and Oscar were browsing the collars, when at the same time they noticed it. A green collar designed to look like a ribbon with a big bow on the back and golden bell on the front. Salem gasped.

“Oscar, we have to get that for Opal! It would look adorable on her!” she exclaimed. 

Oscar grinned and picked up the collar, holding it in front of Opal, “What do you think? Pretty right?”

“I like the way it sounds!” she replied cheerily.

“Do you like it? I think it would look adorable on you.” Salem smiled at the kitten.

“I guess. I don’t really know what it looks like.” she said happy as you please.

Her, Oscar, and Ozpin paused at that. Couldn’t… see? But it was right in front of her eyes.

Oscar was the first to gather himself. “What do you mean you can’t see it?”

“She’s blind genius.” Alberon grumbled. “Her previous owners, buncha pricks, were pretty awful towards her. They got some kind of chemicals in her eyes and it permanently blinded her. I found her after they threw her out for that. Damn lucky I did, Brothers know how long she would have lasted on her own.”

Salem was filled with several emotions at once, rage at the ones who had harmed her kit, sorrow for the little one who had lived such a life, and gratitude towards Alberon for taking care of her. 

“Do you remember where they were exactly? I would like to have a few words with them.” Ozpin growled, causing a few passersby to stare at them.

“I don't, sadly.” Alberon admitted. “But she’s alright. Right kiddo?”

“Yup! Besides, is not like I can see nothin! I can see the other people!” she smiled brightly. “Or I can see their colors. Like their souls.”

“Aura. You can see their aura.” Alberon corrected. “She’s told me about this before. And I used to work with huntsmen, so I figured it out pretty quick.”

“Awa!” Opal grinned.

Alberon butted his head against hers affectionately, “Close enough.”

Salem hummed, “Well then… I suppose you’ll just have to take out words for it. This collar is adorable, and absolutely perfect for you.”

“I twust you.” Opal said honestly, making Salem’s heart skip a beat. 

They spent a bit longer looking at accessories, Salem found she didn’t particularly like anything they had, though Alberon had found a blue bandana with a silver Atlas symbol on it that he liked. And after a brief stop at the fish, rodent, and reptile sections (Oscar really seemed to like the snakes), they bought their items and left. 

The next stop was a little ice cream shop. It was a fairly warm day out so it felt appropriate. Oscar got a couple little “doggy bowls” for her, Ozpin, Opal, and Alberon, while he got a vanilla chocolate swirl with rainbow sprinkles. Salem could say with total honesty, she couldn’t remember the last time she had any kind of ice cream. So the little bowl of vanilla truly was a treat for her.

“How do you like it?” Oscar jokingly asked after she had gotten a brain freeze from eating to quickly.

She had glared at him a bit but returned to her ice cream, eating it a bit slower now. They enjoyed their treats for a bit longer, until all the ice cream was gone and they decided to head back to the hotel. 

That was when a woman with white hair in military garb quite literally ran into Oscar.

“Oof!” Oscar said as he landed on his butt on the ground.

“Oh! My apologies, young man. I didn’t see you there.” the white haired woman apologized. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Oscar waved off before he looked at Ozpin, raised his eyebrows, and looked back at Winter. “Aren’t you… Winter Schnee?”

“I am. But I don’t have time to chat, I have someone to find.” she said cooley before muttering, “Probably already drunk off his feathered ass.”

Oscar leapt to his feet, “Qrow Branwen! Right?”

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him suspiciously, “Yes… how did you know that?”

“I’m traveling with him! I know where he is!” Oscar grinned, “I can show you if you like!”

Winter looked at Oscar for a moment, seemingly appraising him. After a moment though she seemed to deem him trustworthy and nodded. “Thank you, I would appreciate it.”

“Great! Follow me!” Oscar chirped, nodded for her to follow him. The odd group walked in relative silence, Winter seeming to not want to talk, Oscar being too awkward to say anything, and the rest being animals that only Oscar could understand. It made for an awkward journey, but luckily it wasn’t a long one, and they were back at the hotel fairly quickly.

“Here we are!” Oscar beamed once they got to their destination. “They should be back by now. So you can wait here while I grab them ok?”

“Very well.” she said, already moving to look at a few of the magazines they had in the lobby.

Oscar sighed, his shoulders sagging in relief as they left. He all but ran down the hall to their rooms and threw open the door. “QROW WINTER IS HERE!” he shouted upon his dramatic entrance.

Qrow near jumped out of his skin, falling off the bed in a tangle of limbs, “GAH! Don’t DO that! And what did you say?”

“Winter is here! Winter Schnee!” Oscar repeated frantically, “She’s in the lobby!”

Qrow blinked at him, “Well, shit. Alright then, let’s go. The others are still out but they’ll probably be-” 

They were cut off by a loud high pitched screech from the lobby. Both were quick to run to the lobby, where they found Weiss tightly hugging Winter, while Winter was a bit more subdued but clearly equally as loving as her sister in her embrace.

“Well well well, looks like the ice queen’s melted a bit.” Qrow smirked, putting a hand on his hip.

“Qrow.” Winter replied with something very close to a growl.

“Hey.” he replied, somehow making the simple greeting sound snarky.

Winter sighed and released Weiss, who seemed to pout but moved back to others. Ruby was looking somehow excited and worried at the same time.

Qrow sighed, “Look, I don’t wanna fight. I take it you’re here cause of the letter I sent Jimmy?”

“General Ironwood,” she said, putting emphasis on the word General, “sent me here to get you. He would have come himself, but he’s busy at the base. So go pack whatever you have, we’re leaving now.” 

“Fine. Kids, let’s go. Brother’s know if we’re not fast enough the ice queen might freeze us all with her icy glare.” Qrow grinned smugly as Winter glared at him. 

They were all quick to pack everything, especially Weiss, and they were on their way. It was a hop, Askip, and a trolly ride before they got to the base. Ruby and Nora seemed more than happy to make faces at the soldiers as they passed through the gates, Salem wasn’t sure why really. But she could guess. 

“Witch.” a voice growled.

“She devil.” Maria replied, glaring at the owner of the voice. A short, grey haired woman in military garb, someone who apparently had bad blood with Maria.

“So. Specialist Schnee has vouched for you, as well as the General. So I must…” the woman visibly shuddered, “apologize. For my previous actions.”

“Yes, you should. But! I just realized I don’t care! So suck it!” Maria cackled, throwing her head back and walking off. 

Oscar walked up next to her, “Do you two know each other?” 

“Oh yes, we certainly know each other. Honestly, you sneak in cashews one time! And you’re on the Atlas watch list for life!”

Oscar looked at Salem and shrugged, but that was when the General stepped out and appraised the group. Goodness. He looked exhausted. A shaggy unkempt beard on his usually clean shaven face, dark circles mirroring bruises on his eyes, and he looked like he hadn’t had a proper meal Brother’s know how long.

“Qrow! Team RWBY, Mr.Arc, Mr.Ren, Miss.Valkerie.” he greeted as his eyes landed on Oscar. “And you young man. What is your name?”

“O-Oscar Pine sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Oscar stammered, his hand tangled in Ozpin’s fur at his side.

“It’s nice to meet you Oscar. And it’s nice to meet your… furry companions.” James softly smiled, his head tilting a bit to look at her, Ozpin, and Opal. His eyes widened a bit at Alberon. “Hm, that cat, are they an Abyssian?”

“Uh, yes sir! He is!” Oscar chirped, picking Alberon up from the ground and holding him to his chest. 

“Jamie…” Alberon breathed and started wiggling in Oscar’s grip. “Oscar, that’s Jamie! That’s him! I know it!”

Oscar let him slip free and he immediately bolted to James and began walking around his ankles and purring. 

James looked a bit shocked, “My, he’s friendly. Heh, he reminds me of a cat I lost some years ago. His name was Alberon, he was the best cat one could ask for.”

Qrow stepped forward this time, “Yeah, listen James. We have some really important things to tell you. Most of which is… confidencial.”

James nodded and picked Alberon up, “Understood. We should head out. Come on everyone, the transport should be finished fueling now.”

Once they were all settled on the ship and on their way to Atlas, James began. Telling them about things in Atlas, why he had put in the embargo, his relief over seeing them, and his extension of the inner circle with Winter, his Ace Operatives, and Penny the robot girl that Cinder and her team had killed. Salem grew greatly ashamed at the mention of the girl, she hadn’t known enough of Penny. Had she known how young, how truly innocent she was, she never would have… she never would have let Cinder touch her. 

“P-Penny is… alive?” Ruby asked, her eyes wide and looking like she would cry any moment.

“Yes. Luckily her core was still intact and thus we were able to rebuild her. She’s been upgraded in fact. She’s faster, stronger, and more durable than she was before. And I know she’ll be very happy to see you Ruby.” James explained, finishing his explanation with a soft smile. 

Ruby nodded, and wiped her eyes, “Y-yeah. I can’t wait to see her.”

Oscar cleared his throat, “Sir? We uh, we have some stuff we need to tell you. Not all of it is… that great. So… do you want the good news or the bad new first?”

James looked at him for a moment before sighing, “Give me the good news first. I feel like I need a bit of positivity first.”

Oscar nodded, “Well, first and foremost. I’m the new Ozpin, but due to some magic stuff that I don’t really understand, Ozpin is here. He can walk around in a physical form, but only if it’s an animal form. Hence, the samoyed. But Oz, you can turn back to your normal form now.”

Ozpin nodded and shifted seamlessly back into his default form, which made James and Winter’s eyes widen in shock. 

“Oz?” James asked, a hopeful spark lighting in his eyes. “I can’t believe it, I was almost scared I’d never see you again.”

Ozpin nodded at him and put his chin on James’s leg, “It’s good to see you too old friend.”

“He says it’s good to see you too.” Oscar translated before continuing. “There’s more good news too. Also due to magic, I can understand animals. Not just Ozpin. And that cat on your lap? His name is Alberon. And he’s really happy to see you again. Heh, Jamie.”

James looked down at Alberon, who was curled up on his lap. “Alberon? It… is it really you?”

Alberon blinked slowly at him and stood, putting his paws on James’s chest and butting his head against the underside of James’s chin. “Yes! It’s me! You remember!”

James picked him up and looked into his eyes, “...It is you. Alberon! I can’t believe it! I thought… I never thought I’d see you again!” The General laughed and held Alberon close to his chest, seeming to forget everyone on the transport. “I missed you so much! I can’t believe it! When you went missing I looked for months! You were in Argus this whole time! I’m such an idiot!” 

Opal giggled, “Can I get a hug too?” 

Oscar smiled and quietly slipped Opal onto James’s lap, “Go for it.”

Opal was quick to climb up to James’s shoulder and snuggle against his neck. James looked over to her and then to Oscar was a clear “Who or what the heck is this?” look.

“That’s Opal. She was abandoned by her previous owners after they blinded her, Alberon adopted her and is basically her grandpa. Ozpin and Midnight,” he picked Salme up and showed her to him, “this cat, both basically adopted her. And since they also basically adopted me, I’m her big brother.”

James blinked at him, “...Ok.” 

Qrow chuckled, “Just roll with it Jimmy. It’s what I’ve been doin.”

James nodded and rubbed under Opal’s chin, “Alright. Now, I hate to ask. But what’s the bad news?”

Ozpin walked back to Oscar and the pair looked at each other for a long moment before Ozpin nodded and sat beside Oscar. 

“The bad news… is a really long story.” Oscar said. “And we think it’s best if Oz tells it.” 

With that Ozpin’s form dissipated and Oscar’s fox form took his place. “Hello James.” 

James’s form visibly relaxed, “Hello Ozpin.” 

Ozpin took a deep breath, “James, the story I am about to tell is not a happy one. And truthfully, it hurts a great deal to talk about. But I’m done lying and keeping secrets from those closest to me. Just… promise you won’t… do anything rash when I tell you this story.”

James looked confused but nodded, “I promise.”

So, Salem heard the story from Ozpin's perspective. She… never quite realized how much he had been through. She always knew that he had suffered and hurt through all these centuries. But somehow, hearing all of this, seeing the emotions play across his face, the tremble in his voice when he recounted their shared past. It… put some things into perspective for her. She wasn’t the only one who had lost people dear to her. She was not alone in her suffering, she had simply been focusing all her pain on the only one she could. Even if it was greatly misplaced. 

When the story was over, Ozpin was holding Oscar, still in his fox form, close and petting down his back. It was clear he was trying to keep from crying, and doing a fairly good job of it. Salem didn’t feel it was her place to offer comfort, so she just curled next to him and gave him his space.

“I can’t believe this.” James said, sounding both furious and deeply hurt.

“I’m so sorry James.” Ozpin emotionally stated, holding Oscar a bit closer.

James looked away, his fist clenched in his lap, “How could you keep this from us? The people who trusted you?” 

Ozpin took a shaky breath, “I didn’t want you to lose hope, and… I was scared. I’ve been backstabbed, and betrayed, and seen people fall into despair over this. I’m so sorry James. Truly I am.” 

James looked away, tears shining in his eyes. “I trusted you.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Ozpin said softly.

Alberon nuzzled his face against James’s cheek, “Please don’t cry Jamie. I hate it when you do that.” 

James relaxed ever so slightly and pet down Alberon’s back. “I… I’m going to need to process this. But it certainly changes my previous plans. I… was going to take amity arena and turn it into a satellite. I was going to shoot it into the sky, too high for Salem’s creatures to reach. Restore global communications. But now… I might put that on the back burner.”

Qrow nodded, “Sounds good to me.”

James hummed, “I was also going to tell the people about Salem. Starting with Atlas.”

Weiss looked out the window to see the Atlas air fleet, “That explains this. You want to have them close to control the chaos that will ensue.”

“Exactly.” James nodded, “But with this new information… it might be best to hold off on those plans.”

“Maybe.” Yang sighed. “We don’t know what Salem could be planning anyway. For all we know she could be planning to sabotage the election, or create civil unrest by blaming you for murder, or a million other things.”

“True.” Blake agreed. “Or she could somehow get into the Atlas security grid.”

“I upgraded that after the Fall.” James countered.

“What about Mantle?” Nora interjected. “Did you upgrade that?”

James paused, “...I will as soon as we get back.”

Salem was deeply uncomfortable right now. Partly because all of that sounded like stuff she would do if she was still fighting this war. But she wouldn’t do that now, not when her cub was on the line. 

Luckily before the conversation could continue much further, they landed. They all moved to stand, Ozpin picking Salem up and holding both her and Oscar, while James held Alberon and Opal. Exiting the manta they were greeted by a line of soldiers, though these ones didn’t look like the usual Atlas soldier. 

“General Ironwood, sir. I hope your journey went well?” the sleeveless one greeted, a charming smile on his face.

“It was… enlightening. But let me introduce everyone. Everybody, these are my Ace Operatives. Clover Ebi, Harriet Bree, Vine Zeki, Elm Ederne, and Marrow Amin. Operatives, this is team RWBY, team JNR, Oscar Pine, and Qrow Branwen.” James introduced tiredly. 

“Sir, why do you have… cats?” Marrow asked, looking curiously at Alberon and Opal. “And why does that fox have 3 tails?”

Harriet elbowed him in the ribs, “Shh! It doesn’t matter why!”

James’s face softened and a small smile appeared, “It’s fine. This is Alberon, a cat I lost some years ago and happened to be reunited with in Argus. This is Opal, she’s a kitten that Alberon has cared for. The fox… is a longer story, and the other cat is Midnight. She’s… also a long story.”

“Understood sir.” Clover saluted. “Is there anything else you need from us?”

“Yes. Could you get a message to Pietro? I need to look into upgrading Mantle’s defenses. I’ve been… slacking on that. And if possible, have him send Penny up here. I have a feeling she’d like to see her friends.” James smiled softly. 

“Yes Sir!” the Operatives saluted crisply.

James held up a hand, “First I’ll need one of you to show them to the dorms. They’ve had a long journey, and I’m sure they would like to get some rest.” 

Clover stepped forward, “I’ll show them sir.”

“Thank you Clover. I’ll be in my office.” James nodded before raising a hand in farewell and heading into the school.

Clover beamed at the group, “Hello! Just follow me to the dorms!” And he spun around, gesturing for them to follow. 

Qrow took the lead and walked next to Clover as they followed him. Salem had never really been to Atlas before, she had to admit, it was a marvel to behold. Everything was shiny and high tech, though it could certainly use more color. All blues and white, maybe a bit of red here and there. It was quite bland.

The walk was a bit awkward, most of the group was too tired to really chat, though Clover seemed rather chipper. He kept chatting up Qrow, who seemed flustered by whatever the Operative was telling him. 

Eventually they reached the dorms, each one of them looking dead on their feet.

“Ok everyone. You guys get settled here, you’ll probably be called in for a meeting with the General tomorrow. Sweet dreams!” and he headed off with a barely concealed wink at Qrow. 

Ozpin yawned and put Oscar on the ground before taking his place in his dire wolf form. The kids each took a dorm for themselves, team RWBY in one with Qrow shifting to bird form and joining them.

“Only for tonight. I’m too tired to head to my usual spot.” he explained before through Oscar before leaving with the girls.

Team JNR and Oscar with Ozpin and Salem headed into the other dorm. 

“I’m so tired.” Oscar said wearily.

“Same.” Nora agreed climbing into a bunk without bothering to change and quickly snuggling under the covers.

“Night.” Jaune blerily waved, taking his armor off and falling into his bunk.

“Sleep tight.” Ren yawned taking off his shoes (and Nora’s) before heading to bed himself.

“Don’t let the bed bug bite.” Oscar softly chuckled snuggling under the covers, while Ozpin shifted to a Maine Coon and snuggling against Oscar. 

Salem sighed from her spot on Oscar’s stomach. This day could have gone worse, all things considered, but she was tired, and it was time to rest. 

“Good night Oscar.” she mumbled as she drifted off.

“Good night mama.” he murmured back. “Good night papa.”

“Good night my dear.” Ozpin replied softly. 

“And good night Oscar!” Nora said irritably from above them.

Oscar giggled softly and settled down before finally falling asleep, followed quickly by Ozpin and Salem. What the next day would hold she didn’t know. But she was sure of one thing, she would be with her cub through it all. And with Ozpin as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. Have a lovely day you guys!


	16. Old Friends And Maybe A Few New Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby has had a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for being gone so long with this story. It's been really hard wanting to keep this story up. Life gets in the way, and it's been difficult. But here's the new chapter. Enjoy.

Things had been very VERY crazy for Ruby since Beacon. The Fall, Pyrrha, Penny, learning about the maidens and the relic, Jinn, all Ozpin’s secrets. It was… a lot. Biggest among them right now though? Penny. It was… complicated. At Beacon, Penny had been one of her closest friends. Both were awkward, both didn’t quite feel like they fit in, and they gravitated towards each other in that time. But then… Penny died. Ruby had seen it with her own eyes. She had been torn to shreds right on live television for goodness sake.

Ruby sighed from her spot on the balcony she stood on, still clad in her pajamas with her hood and boots offering some extra warmth. She probably looked like a mess right now, but no one else was up, so who cared, right?

But back to Penny. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy she was back. Ruby was honestly ecstatic she was alive. Penny! One of her best friends! Back from the dead! How amazing was that? But she couldn’t help but feel sad and almost… betrayed? It was confusing. She had mourned Penny, in the darkness and solitude of the night, when her friends were asleep, she’d let it go. She’d drop her smile, her cheery demeanor, all of it. She’d drop the act and just had a moment to cry, to grieve and mourn her lost friends. But now… Penny was back.

Another sigh left her. She felt horrible saying it but, well, she was almost mad. All that pain and suffering, and she was totally fine. Alive and well, like it never happened. But It had happened. It had happened, and if Ruby was being honest? She still wasn’t over it. She doubted she ever really would be, she had lost a lot that night. Penny, Pyrrha, Ozpin and her sister in a way, and… she lost her innocence.

*And actual restful sleep* she thought ruefully, leaning on the railing and cupping her chin in her hand.

Yes. It was all really complicated, but she was Ruby Rose! Daughter of Taiyang Xiao-Long and Summer Rose! Sister to Yang Xiao-Long! She didn’t just back down when things got bad! No! She just pushed it all deep deep down inside herself, let it fester, and never ever talked about it! All while keeping a bright smile and happy-go-lucky persona with the occasional motivational speech! So, that’s what she’d do. Gotta be strong after all. She was a leader. Weakness wasn’t an option. Not when her team… her family's lives were on the line. She couldn’t falter. Not now.

The red cloaked girl shivered as a gust of wind hit her, it was time to get back inside. A quick check to her scroll told her that it was about time to get ready for the day anyways. She had a meeting with the General and the others soon.

Walking back inside and a bit down the hall back to the dorm her and the others were staying at. Inside she found Blake, already mostly dressed, Weiss sound asleep in her bunk, and Yang also sound asleep with Uncle Qrow in his (super cool and awesome still) crow form snuggled in the crook of her neck. She shared a soft smile with Blake and headed to the bathroom to warm up with a nice shower and get dressed.

When she eventually stepped out of the now steaming bathroom she found Yang half awake, blearily sitting in a chair while Uncle Qrow (now human) brushed her hair. She offered them both a wave and a smile, that they returned in kind, before she woke Weiss.

“Weiss. Wake up. It’s morning and we need to get dressed.” she stage whispered to the sleeping former heiress.

Weiss whined and pulled the covers over her head, “No. Sleep time.”

Ruby couldn’t stop the giggle that fell from her lips, “Weiss! We have a meeting with everyone today! You don’t wanna be late do you?”

Another muffled whine, this time mixed with a groan, and Weiss finally pulled the covers off herself. “Fiiine. I’m awake. Barely. Yang you had better not have clogged the drain in the bathroom already.”

“Haven’t even stepped in there ice princess.” Yang shot back, looking more awake than she had a moment ago.

Weiss nodded at her and stepped into the bathroom for her own shower. Ruby smiled happily, she missed this, this… domesticity. It always felt like something was going on nowadays, it was nice to have little soft moments like this. She felt a wave of sudden nostalgia fill her, things hadn’t been quite like this since… since Beacon. That felt like so long ago, even if it really wasn’t. She’d changed so much since then. All of them had. She felt 10 years older, even if she was still just 17.

Once Weiss was showered and they were all dressed and ready, they left the dorm, meeting team ALPN (as they had started insisting on being called) in the hallway.

“Good morning.” Ren said cooly, a still clearly sleepy Nora leaning heavily on his side.

“Morning guys.” Yang replied, “Ready for the interrogation?”

Uncle Qrow snorted, making Yang smile a bit, triumphantly. Ruby looked over everyone, metally counting to make sure they hadn’t lost or left anyone behind. A habit she had picked up on the road with Jaune, Ren, and Nora. Sure her little traveling party was quite a bit bigger than before, the addition of her team, uncle Qrow, Oscar, Midnight, Opal, and Alberon certainly was a surprise to her. But hey, the more the merrier! And the newer additions were already like family to her! So as her dad would say, Score!

They all quickly made their way to the Generals office, only getting turned around 3 times before they got there. Not so bad with no maps and having never been there before! Though, she did feel a bit bad for being late to the meeting.

Entering the room things quickly got… cramped. The General was there behind a large desk, the Axe Ops (that’s what they were called right?) to the side, Winter on the Generals right, and… Penny, on the left. Penny. She was right there. She looked… different. Her hair was longer, she was taller and her legs from the knees down were black and robotic instead of human, and she had a new dress and gloves. She looked pretty.

Ruby couldn’t take her eyes off her. The world fell away, the General was talking, but she couldn’t hear a word. Penny was there. And… oh god. She was looking back. They were making eye contact. Penny was smiling. It looked just like it used to. So sincere and open and honest.

Ruby felt her eyes start to well up. Penny was THERE. Right in front of her! Smiling like everything was fine! This… didn’t feel fair. Pyrrha was gone. Beacon was gone. Ozpin was… sorta gone. Nearly all of BRNZ was gone, civilians, families torn apart, friends gone forever. And yet Penny came back. She was here. Standing there like nothing had ever happened. Looking good as new.

Ruby didn’t know how to feel. She was so happy to see her, her friend that she had missed so much right in front of her! She wanted to run up and hug her tight and never let her go forever! She was so angry how dare Penny come back but not Pyrrha or Brawnz, or Roy, or May! It wasn’t fair! She was… oh Brothers she was gonna cry. She was gonna cry right there in front of a bunch of strangers and her friends. Fuck.

“Yang?” she asked softly, trying so hard to keep the broken waver out of her voice.

“Yeah Rubes?” she whispered back.

Ruby looked away, taking a breath, “I need to leave. Like. Right now.”

Yang looked at her curiously, her eyes going up and down before narrowing at her face. “Ok. Go on, I’ll cover for you. ...Do you want me to go with you? Or Uncle Qrow?”

Ruby smiled weakly, “No. Thanks Yang.”

Yang nodded, her eyebrows knit together in concern and her lips in a thin hard line.

Ruby was quick to slip out while everyone else was still focused on the General. Once she was out of the room she petal burst to the nearest balcony and slammed her back into a wall, sliding down it and covering her face with her hood before the tears began. She felt a maelstrom of emotions running through her heart and out her eyes, sobs wracked her body and ragged breaths were being ripped from her mouth. She couldn’t catch her breath, she couldn’t BREATHE.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, curled up in the cold, sobbing and crying. But eventually she felt a wonderfully warm hand on her back. She shot her head up to see Yang sitting next to her with a soft sympathetic smile.

“Hey.” Yang said softly. “You wanna hug?”

Ruby sniffled and nodded, leaning into Yang who wrapped her arms around her. Yang was so warm and it made Ruby realize just how cold she was. She shivered hard but grabbed weakly onto Yang's jacket, balling her hands into fists on the material.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Yang said softly, her human hand softly petting her hair.

“It’s so much Yang. Too much. I feel like I’m drowning.” she replied softly, her voice muffled from her face being in Yang’s shoulder.

“Then let me be your life saver.” Yang replied simply. “When you feel like this, let me be there. I know you Ruby. You put on this bright happy smile when you’re hurting, and you try to push forward in the worst of times. You’re the strongest person I know. But even the strongest of people need help sometimes, they need someone to lean on. Let me be that someone for you. Please.”

Ruby let out a hiccuping sob and pulled herself closer to her sister. She couldn’t even respond, so she simply nodded. Yang’s prosthetic began rubbing soothing circles on her back.

Yang's voice was soft and warm as she spoke, “Whatever you need, I’m right here for you. Ok?” 

“Ok.” Ruby rasped, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They sat like that for a few moments more, though it wasn’t long enough in Ruby’s opinion. When they broke apart Yang ruffled her hair, earning a small giggle from the scythe wielder. They stood and Yang had to hold onto Ruby’s shoulders as she had apparently lost feeling in them at some point. Once she got feeling back and the pins and needles subsided, they headed back inside.

Uncle Qrow was waiting there for them when they headed inside. He opened his arms when he spotted Ruby and she smiled, all but petal blasting into his arms. He hugged her back tight and kissed the top of her head.

“You alright kiddo?” he asked softly, his voice a bit muffled by her hair.

She nodded, “I will be.”

“Good.” her replied, pulling away and pinching her cheek. “I prefer it when you’re smiling.”

She did indeed smile, earning another ruffling of the hair. “So, how did the meeting go?” she asked, playfully pushing Uncle Qrow’s hand away.

“Boooooriiiiing!” Yang groaned, arm crossed behind her head. “I thought I was gonna fall asleep!”

“Come on firecracker, it wasn’t that bad.” Uncle Qrow chuckled. “But not much happened, he just told us about his plan to use Amity to broadcast to the world, and introduced us more to those Ace Op guys-”

“The sleeveless one was totally making eyes at you.” Yang teased, making Uncle Qrow blush.

“Shut up.” he grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The two girls giggled at his embarrassment and he glared in response.

“Anyways!” he continued. “They Ace Ops, Winter, Penny, and Dr.Polendina all know about Salem. So we don’t need to keep that from them. Which makes this a bit easier.”

“Yup.” Yang agreed, starting to walk down the hall back towards the generals office, making Ruby and Uncle Qrow follow. “Like I said, boring. But one plus side? The general is gonna upgrade our weapons and get us new gear! So score!”

Ruby gasped and petal blasted in front of her sister, “You mean I get to upgrade my baby!? Crescent Rose is gonna get even more amazing!?”

Yang booped her nose and smiled, “Indeed I do, sister of mine! Ember Celica to! Really everyones but Uncle Qrow’s.”

“My weapon’s perfect as is. I don’t really need any “upgrades” at the moment.” he defended when the sister threw him disapproving looks.

Their walk wasn’t much longer and Ruby froze a bit when they got to the door, but Yang took her and Uncle Qrow put a hand on her shoulder and she felt a bit better. She took a deep breath and walked into the office.

“Ah! Miss.Rose! Good to see you. Are you feeling alright?” General Ironwood asked upon her entrance.

“Y-yeah. Sorry about walking out that. I just… needed some air.” she replied lamely, rubbing the back of her neck.

He smiled kindly at her and nodded, “I understand. You’ve all been through a lot and to have all of this sprung on you so soon, it can be a lot. Did your sister and Qrow fill you in?”

“Yes sir!” she chirped a tad nervously. “Amity, weapons upgrades, these guys know about Salem-”

“Who?” the tall pale guy in the corner asked, a confused look on his face.

Ruby felt her face burn, “Uuuuuuuh-”

“Vine be nice!” the buff tan woman next to him chided with a laugh, nudging him with her elbow. “Sorry about him, he thinks he’s funny.”

“I’m hilarious.” he replied with a deadpan expression.

Ruby exhaled with a small laugh, “Yeah.”

“Anyways.” the sleeveless guy who made eyes at her uncle interrupted, “We’re looking forward to working with all of you. We’ll be teaming up more often than not, so we’ll be getting to know each other pretty well.” he looked at Qrow with a far to charming smile, “Very well, I hope.”

Uncle Qrow blushed and looked away. Ruby snorted, and Yang nudged her with her eyebrows waggling. He glared at them both and cleared his throat.

“Yeah, I usually work alone. So I’m good on the whole “team building exercises” thing.”

James smirked at him, “Actually, I’m pairing you with Clover. Neither of you have partners in the field and with your shared abilities and semblances, I have a feeling you’ll do well together.”

“Shared… semblances?” Uncle Qrow questioned.

Clover stepped forward, “My semblance is good fortune. I’ve already been informed of yours. I feel like if we work together with this, we could do some real damage on the battlefield.”

Uncle Qrow’s eyes widened and and and looked away, brows furrowed in thought.

“Uhhh, so what now?” Jaune asked, his hand slightly raised like they were still in school. Which… technically they were in A school.

“Now,” the General said, looking over the group as a whole, “I want all of you to-”

“Mew!”

Ruby gasped as none other than Opal popped out of the General breast pocket. She noticed Clover and the buff lady “daaaawww!” at the kitten, while the faunus guy glared a bit.

James’s cheeks turned a bit pink and he cleared his throat. “You all remember Opal. She… wouldn’t stop yelling at me until I brought her in. And I thought you’d all like to see her.”

Oscar waved excitedly and Ozpin, now back in dire wolf form, trotted over to say hello. Opal quickly hopped out of General Ironwood’s pocket and onto Ozpin's face. He happily trotted back to Oscar who took the ragdoll kitten and nuzzled her nose to his before placing her on his shoulder.

“As I was saying.” the general continued, “I want all of you to take the next few days off. Settle into the school, work on your weapons or bring them to Dr.Polendina, or explore Atlas. What you do is entirely up to you. Just take some time to relax and recuperate after all you’ve gone through.”

Ruby and the other smiled, it would be pretty nice to explore Altas. They’d only seen the boring parts of the other places they’d been. Or had to fight for their lives. Or deal with mean old ladies. So it would be nice to see some sights!

“Could we train?” Ren asked.

The general nodded, “You have full access to the training facilities. Really you’re free to use any facility you wish. Club rooms, if they aren’t reserved, training facilities, the indoor gardens, it’s up to you.”

They all smiled at that and Ruby nodded at the general, “Thank you sir. We really appreciate this.”

He nodded back with a smile, “Of course.”

It was then that Ruby’s eyes finally turned back to Penny. She’d been avoiding looking at her the whole time, but she knew she’d need to face this eventually.

Penny smiled back at her though this one was more subdued than it had been before. Ruby took a deep breath and walked up to her.

“Hi.” she said quietly.

“Hello Ruby! It is so wonderful to see you again! I have missed you a great deal!” Penny replied cheerily.

Ruby felt her eyes well up again, “I missed you too. A lot actually.”

Penny then shocked Ruby by pulling her into a bone crushing hug. “Oh Ruby! I simply can not wait to spend time with you! It has been so long! I have so much to tell you! Quite a lot has happened since we last saw each other!”

Ruby froze for a moment, but felt her arms hugging Penny back tightly, her face pressing into her friends shoulder. “I missed you so much.”

She felt Penny’s hand rest on the back of her head, “As have I. But we now have time to catch up on everything. We can have those sleep overs we spoke of! And do each other's nails!”

Ruby let a small sob slip through, but she smiled. “That sounds amazing Penny. I can’t wait.”

When they pulled apart and Ruby wiped her eyes they smiled at each other.

“Oh! I have a wonderful idea!” Penny exclaimed, looking at the general excitedly. “General Ironwood, may I take them on a tour of the school? It may make it easier for them to navigate in the future!”

The general hummed but nodded, “That’s a good idea. Go ahead.”

“Yay! Thank you sir!” she beamed, clapping her hands together and grabbing Ruby’s hand. “This will be so much fun!”

Ruby allowed Penny to pull her towards the door, the rest of her team and team JNR following after as well as Oscar and Ozpin.

“Actually, Ozpin, Oscar, I’d like you two to stay for a moment. I have some things I’d like to talk over with you.” the general said before they all left.

Oscar blinked and looked at the group apologetically, “Sorry guys. Maybe next time.”

Ruby pulled a bit of a face but went along with it, he’d be fine, he had Ozpin and he could take care of himself. Though she did feel bad leaving him behind.

The Ace Ops and Winter followed them out and the door closed soundly behind them.

“Well, see you kids on the training room floor.” the shorter woman with crazy cool hair said cooly before lightning seemed to arc around her body and she took off.

Ruby let out a small gasp, “Cool.”

Vine and the buff lady nodded at them as they left, chatting idly to each other as they walked away, something about lunch at some place in mantle.

Clover smiled at them, “Well I’ve got work to do, so I’ll see you around! Come on Marrow.”

Marrow, as the faunus man's name apparently was, “Coming sir!”

The pair walked off, leaving the group alone together.

“Sooooo.” Nora began, “I think you mentioned a tour? Will we be going to the mess hall? I didn’t eat breakfast and I’m starving!”

“Of course!” Penny grinned, “Just follow me!”

And so, her hand still in Penny’s grip, Ruby and her friends followed Penny into the school for what was sure to be a very informative and happy go lucky tour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!


End file.
